The Arctic Frost investigation, widely reported as the fake-elector investigation at the time, was a joint federal investigation opened in April 2022 involving the FBI, DOJ Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, National Archives and Office of Inspector General into Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election results. The investigation was transferred to Special Counsel Jack Smith's oversight in November 2022, along with other investigations into the election and its aftermath, leading to the federal prosecution of Donald Trump for election obstruction.
After Democratic nominee Joe Biden won the 2020 United States presidential election, Republican nominee and then-incumbent president Donald Trump pursued an effort to overturn the election, with support from his campaign, proxies, political allies, and many of his supporters. These efforts culminated in the January 6 Capitol attack.
After the results of the election determined Trump had lost, he, his associates, and Republican Party officials in seven battleground states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – devised a fake electors scheme to submit fraudulent certificates of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the Electoral College vote in crucial states.
Under US attorney general Merrick Garland, the DOJ opened multiple investigations into events during the closing weeks of the Trump presidency, including one opened in early 2022 on the fake electors plot.
In November 2022, Garland appointed Jack Smith as an independent special counsel responsible for overseeing criminal investigations including the fake electors scheme. Trump was indicted in August 2023 on charges of conspiring to overturn the results, but the case was dismissed after Trump's 2024 election win and a Justice Department legal opinion that sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.
Investigation According to a draft FBI internal document later published by Senator Chuck Grassley (the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee), the FBI characterized Arctic Frost as an investigation into what it described as a "multifaceted conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election so that former president Trump could remain in office". The document said it involved subjects from the private sector in numerous battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Arizona), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House. According to this same document, Arctic Frost was a joint investigation between the FBI, DOJ Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and National Archives and Records Administration (OIG).
The investigation was opened in April 2022 by Timothy Thibault, then-assistant special agent in charge at the FBI's Washington Field Office. The FBI's opening document alleged "specific and articulable facts" indicating that individuals had engaged in activity violating federal law. According to FBI documents, this was approved by leaders at the FBI's Washington Field Office, the FBI General Counsel, and FBI deputy director Paul Abbate.
The FBI documents also appear to indicate that, because of the sensitivity of the investigation, the case opening was also approved by FBI director Christopher Wray, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Attorney General Merrick Garland, pursuant to FBI and DOJ policy. According to conservative lawyer Andrew McCarthy, the opening of the investigation was entirely appropriate.
According to Grassley, whistleblower disclosures identified Special Agent Walter Giardina as the author of the investigation's targeting list and a point of contact on numerous subpoenas. Giardina was terminated by FBI director Kash Patel on August 8, 2025.
The investigation was transferred to Special Counsel Jack Smith in November 2022. Initially disclosed records showed Smith and the FBI used grand jury subpoenas to obtain phone records (but not call contents) from nine Republican politicians in 2023, covering four days surrounding the January 6 Capitol riot. The politicians were eight senators (Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, and Marsha Blackburn) and Representative Mike Kelly. The investigation obtained phone toll records rather than wiretap content (see below).
According to Grassley and his colleague Ron Johnson, 200 pages of documents obtained by a whistleblower, released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 29, 2025, showed that Arctic Frost issued 197 subpoenas seeking records related to approximately 430 Republican individuals and entities. These filings also showed that the FBI obtained evidence that individuals tried to persuade former vice president Mike Pence to support the false elector certificates. According to Grassley, the operation's 197 subpoenas were classified as "Prohibited Access" and included nondisclosure orders preventing recipients from notifying the targets, with some gag orders lasting "at least one year".
Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, stated that "phone-record subpoenas and non-disclosure orders are routine in grand jury investigations at the state and federal level". The phone records analysis was characterized in FBI documents as "preliminary toll analysis".
In November 2025, responding to the Judiciary Committee investigation, Verizon told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan that his phone records were subpoenaed for a 28-month period from January 2020 through April 2022. The FBI also physically seized the cell phone of Representative Scott Perry on August 9, 2022. According to Grassley, the FBI also obtained President Donald Trump's and Vice President Mike Pence's government-issued cell phones, with Biden White House assistance in facilitating the transfer.
According to documents Grassley described as whistleblower disclosures, released in September 2025, 92 Republican organizations and individuals were placed under the investigative scope of Arctic Frost, including Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and the America First Policy Institute.
According to documents released by the House Judiciary Committee in October 2025, 45 individuals were identified as potential subjects of the investigation, including Steve Bannon, Rudy Giuliani, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, and Mark Meadows. An additional 111 individuals—including Peter Navarro, Dan Scavino, and Ed Martin—were named in investigative documents but not formally designated as subjects.
According to documents released by Grassley the same week, the subpoenas also sought communications with media companies including CBS, Fox News, Newsmax, and Sinclair; communications with members and staff of Congress; correspondence with White House advisors; donor data and fundraising analytics; and comprehensive banking records.
Telecommunications carriers Major telecommunications carriers responded differently to the subpoenas. AT&T refused to comply after questioning the legal basis for requesting records of members of Congress. In a letter to Senator Grassley, AT&T General Counsel David Chorzempa stated: "When AT&T raised questions with Special Counsel Smith's office concerning the legal basis for seeking records of members of Congress, the Special Counsel did not pursue the subpoena further, and no records were produced."
Verizon complied with all subpoenas, producing phone records for 12 phone numbers associated with Republican lawmakers spanning January 4–7, 2021. The company justified its compliance by stating the subpoenas were "facially valid" and that federal law required compliance. A Verizon spokesperson told Reuters: "We received a valid subpoena and a court order to keep it confidential. We weren't told why the information was requested or what the investigation was about."
According to The Washington Times, following the revelations, Verizon announced policy changes requiring escalation to senior leadership before complying with subpoenas involving members of Congress. Rich Young, Verizon's associate vice president of corporate communications, stated the company is "committed to restoring trust through transparency and will continue to work with Congress and the administration as they examine these issues and consider reforms to expand notification protections."
Toll records vs. wiretapping Senator Josh Hawley stated that the FBI "tapped my phone" and those of other senators. However, the investigation obtained phone toll records (metadata showing call times, durations and numbers) rather than wiretapping (intercepting call content). Legal experts including Fordham University clinical associate law professor Cheryl Bader clarified: "The process 'was not a wiretap'. What was sought was basically a record of phone numbers dialed from a specific phone number." Law enforcement agencies routinely obtain toll records through subpoenas and court orders to establish communication patterns and timelines in criminal and national security investigations.
Intelligence and privacy experts have cautioned that metadata analysis can reveal substantial information about individuals. Stewart Baker, former NSA General Counsel, stated: "Metadata absolutely tells you everything about somebody's life. If you have enough metadata you don't really need content." A 2016 peer-reviewed Stanford University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that telephone metadata "is densely interconnected, can trivially be reidentified, enables automated location and relationship inferences, and can be used to determine highly sensitive traits."
Public disclosure and aftermath The investigation was initially publicly known as a probe into a "false electors scheme" when Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed in November 2022, with the "Arctic Frost" codename and broader scope remaining undisclosed. Information about specific evidence sought and obtained by investigators emerged through documents released by Senator Chuck Grassley beginning in 2025.
Legislative On October 10, senators Tommy Tuberville, Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson wrote a letter to Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding the release of all documents "in unredacted form" referring to the call logs of Members of Congress during the investigation of 47 January 2021. The letter was also signed by: Individual statements: Grassley:
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Katie Britt (R-AL) John Cornyn (R-TX) Ted Cruz (R-TX) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) Bill Hagerty (R-TN) Josh Hawley (R-MO) Mike Kelly (R-PA) John Kennedy (R-LA) Mike Lee (R-UT) Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) Ashley Moody (R-FL) Dan Sullivan (R-AK) Thom Tillis (R-NC) Eric Schmitt (R-MO)
On 15 October, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan requested Smith testify to his committee.