President Trump on Friday urged the prosecution of four top Biden-era Justice Department officials, including FBI Director Christopher Wray and special counsel Jack Smith, alleging they engaged in "illegal and highly unethical behavior" during an FBI investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump accused the officials, who are also close allies of former Attorney General Merrick Garland, of approving an FBI probe that scrutinized phone records of nine Republican lawmakers. He claimed they "spied on Senators and Congressmen/women, and even taped their calls," despite evidence suggesting only call logs were obtained.
The investigation in question is Arctic Frost, which looked into Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Wray, Garland, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco had approved the opening of the probe. In a statement, the committee described the records obtained by the FBI as covering who lawmakers called and when, rather than the content of calls.
Mr. Trump's accusations are part of a pattern of criticism from him against top Justice Department officials. Last month, he urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom have since been criminally indicted by Smith's team.
The case against Mr. Trump was initially pursued by Smith but was later dropped due to a Justice Department legal opinion that bars sitting presidents from federal prosecution. However, the investigation is ongoing, with Smith's office continuing to probe phone calls between lawmakers and the president on January 6, 2021.
Mr. Trump has been charged with conspiring to overturn the election results by his team in August but abandoned the case after he won the presidency the following year. His legal team is currently seeking $230 million from the Justice Department to settle federal damage claims over two investigations into him, including the Trump-Russia probe and a criminal case related to mishandling classified documents.
Smith's attorneys have described the claims against them as "entirely lawful, proper, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy."
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr. Trump accused the officials, who are also close allies of former Attorney General Merrick Garland, of approving an FBI probe that scrutinized phone records of nine Republican lawmakers. He claimed they "spied on Senators and Congressmen/women, and even taped their calls," despite evidence suggesting only call logs were obtained.
The investigation in question is Arctic Frost, which looked into Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the election results. Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that Wray, Garland, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco had approved the opening of the probe. In a statement, the committee described the records obtained by the FBI as covering who lawmakers called and when, rather than the content of calls.
Mr. Trump's accusations are part of a pattern of criticism from him against top Justice Department officials. Last month, he urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom have since been criminally indicted by Smith's team.
The case against Mr. Trump was initially pursued by Smith but was later dropped due to a Justice Department legal opinion that bars sitting presidents from federal prosecution. However, the investigation is ongoing, with Smith's office continuing to probe phone calls between lawmakers and the president on January 6, 2021.
Mr. Trump has been charged with conspiring to overturn the election results by his team in August but abandoned the case after he won the presidency the following year. His legal team is currently seeking $230 million from the Justice Department to settle federal damage claims over two investigations into him, including the Trump-Russia probe and a criminal case related to mishandling classified documents.
Smith's attorneys have described the claims against them as "entirely lawful, proper, and consistent with established Department of Justice policy."
I'm so done with Trumps constant whining about this investigation! Like dude, if you weren't trying to overturn the election, there wouldn't even be an Arctic Frost probe in the first place. And honestly, it's kinda creepy that he thinks FBI agents "spied" on senators... 
Newsflash: call logs are NOT secret recordings of your every conversation! Get a grip, Trump. The fact that his team dropped the case because of DOJ policy doesn't make this investigation any less legit. And let's be real, if anyone's doing some shady stuff here, it's Trump and his crew 
I'm not buying this. What's the source for Trump saying these officials spied on senators? 
The article says call logs were obtained, but that doesn't mean it was wiretapping. And what about all the other investigations Trump is in for? Shouldn't we be focusing on those instead of making baseless claims against Biden-era officials? 
This just looks like more politics as usual to me. I need some concrete evidence before I start jumping off the deep end... 
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who are just doing their jobs. but at the same time, i do think there needs to be accountability for those in power 
The fact that his team is still pushing for $230 million in damages just shows how much this whole thing is eating away at him.
about this whole thing. It seems like Trump is accusing some of his old enemies from the Biden admin of being sneaky and spying on Republicans 
. I don't get why he's making such a big deal out of this.
. Can't he just move on and let the other guys have their moment? 
. They're doing their jobs, and they need to be protected from all this drama 
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. But isn't that basically what the FBI was doing with those phone records? It just seems like Trump is trying to stir up more drama and take attention away from his own legal issues.
. Is this all just part of some bigger game? And what's really going on behind the scenes?
. He's still fighting hard for his legacy and trying to shape public opinion. But at the end of the day, it seems like he's just making things up as he goes along 
. Meanwhile, 72% of netizens agree that approving an FBI probe into Republican lawmakers' phone records is a reasonable way to investigate potential election interference 
. Did you know that the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved the opening of 97% of all FBI investigations in recent years? 
. I mean, what's next? Is he gonna claim that his kids are being "spied on" by teachers at school? 
It's like, come on Donald, if you don't like the way the investigation is going, maybe try to use your big boy voice and speak out against it instead of making baseless accusations. And btw, those phone records were for national security reasons, not because some lawmakers are "taping their calls" 
this is getting crazy!!! how can they even do this?? they're like 2 sides of same coin, always in each other's pocket 
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