FBI Targeted Conservative Orgs In Trump Election Interference Probe — Including Turning Point USA

The Biden-era probe that became special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case against President Donald Trump targeted dozens of other conservative groups, including Turning Point USA (TPUSA), documents released Tuesday reveal.

The FBI’s expansive “Arctic Frost” probe, the origin of Smith’s troubled four-count indictment announced against Trump in August 2023, encompassed 92 other Republican targets, from the Republican National Committee to individuals like White House official Jeffrey Clark, according to whistleblower disclosures released by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley.

The news comes days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination Wednesday while speaking at a college campus in Utah. FBI Director Kash Patel revealed during the hearing that more than 20 individuals who participated in a Discord chat with suspect Tyler Robinson are under investigation.

“Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley said Tuesday during his opening statement for the Judiciary Committee’s FBI oversight hearing. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

Records were subpoenaed from groups like Conservative Partnership Institute and America First Policy Institute for “bogus investigations.” Others like the Republican Attorneys General Association and Turning Point USA were hit with subpoenas for “J6 $,” a spreadsheet from the probe indicates.

An FBI summary of the investigation described Arctic Frost as probing “the multifaceted conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential Election so that former President Trump could remain in office.”

“This conspiracy involved subjects from the private sector, in numerous battleground states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Mexico, and Arizona), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the White House,” it continues.

Trump was indicted in the election probe in August 2023, months after he was indicted in Smith’s classified documents case. Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in November 2022.

Smith continually tried to fast-track the case, rushing to the Supreme Court before giving the lower court time to weigh the presidential immunity appeal and attempting to secure a trial before the election.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) launched an ethics investigation into Smith in August for his conduct while prosecuting Trump.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote on X that his office would be “launching an investigation and issuing subpoenas to former Biden officials who engaged in malicious, politically motivated witch hunts targeting conservative individuals and organizations, like @TPUSA.”

“Time for accountability,” he wrote.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall similarly wrote on X that he “saw firsthand how our association was unfairly targeted” while serving at the time as chair.

“The weaponization of the FBI against political opponents is an affront to our democracy and must be exposed,” he wrote.

Grassley also released audio Tuesday of FBI agents delivering a subpoena to Trump advisor Peter Navarro, the Daily Caller News Foundation first reported. While the Biden administration cited the incident in court documents as a reason Navarro was arrested rather than allowed to self-surrender, the audio undermines the DOJ’s characterization of Navarro’s behavior as “combative.”

The FBI and DOJ did not immediately respond to requests for comment.