Biden-era FBI targeted 92 conservative groups, including TPUSA
The article reports that during the Biden governance, the FBI conducted a broad investigation named “Arctic Frost” targeting at least 92 Republican-aligned individuals and organizations, including Charlie Kirk’s conservative group, Turning Point USA. Whistleblower records released by Senator Chuck Grassley reveal that the probe, initially focused on former President Donald trump’s post-2020 election actions, expanded under former FBI agent Timothy Thibault to include many conservative figures and groups. The investigation involved issuing financial subpoenas to major banks tied to conservative fundraising and political groups.Grassley and other Republicans criticized the investigation as politically motivated, likening it to the Obama-era IRS scandal where conservative nonprofits faced undue scrutiny. The article also notes that the investigation gained renewed attention following Kirk’s assassination, which officials tied to politically motivated, left-wing extremism. The disclosures have prompted calls for similar investigations into progressive organizations by former President Trump and his allies.
Biden-era FBI targeted 92 conservative groups and figures, including Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point
The Biden administration’s FBI placed at least 92 Republican-aligned individuals and organizations under federal scrutiny as part of a sweeping investigation known as Arctic Frost, according to new whistleblower records released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Among those targeted was the group that the late Charlie Kirk founded, Turning Point USA. The group was one of many that was issued a subpoena as part of a batch demand to financial institutions tied to conservative fundraising groups, according to internal bank subpoena logs and whistleblower testimony provided to Congress by FBI Director Kash Patel.
During an interview on Fox News’s America Reports on Wednesday, Grassley pinned the origins of the probe on former FBI agent Timothy Thibault. He said Thibault “violated every FBI protocol” to launch Arctic Frost as a pretext for former special counsel Jack Smith to build his case against then-former President Donald Trump.
Though initially framed as a narrow inquiry into Trump’s post-2020 election conduct, whistleblower disclosures show the investigation quickly expanded under Thibault’s direction to encompass dozens of conservative-aligned figures and organizations.
Grassley and other Republicans argue that by the time Smith formally inherited the case, the groundwork had already been laid for a wide-ranging operation that effectively criminalized political opposition.
“This wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Donald Trump,” Grassley said during a Judiciary hearing on Tuesday as the records were turned over. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”
Subpoenas swept up GOP pillars
The FBI’s “Arctic Frost” inquiry, originally opened in 2022 under then-Director Christopher Wray and later used as the foundation for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2023 indictment against Trump, sent dozens of financial subpoenas to banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, targeting accounts affiliated with key Republican-aligned groups.
Among them were Kirk’s Turning Point USA, the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and the America First Policy Institute.
The inquiry also scrutinized prominent Trump allies, including Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and Stephen Miller, along with dozens of consultants and political action committees tied to the former president’s orbit.
One subpoena dated Dec. 7, 2022, specifically sought financial records related to Turning Point USA, Turning Point Action, and ten additional conservative nonprofit organizations, according to a subpoena tracker released alongside Grassley’s unclassified whistleblower documents.
The revelations surrounding Arctic Frost could form the political predicate for the Trump administration to initiate its own investigations into progressive networks, including left-wing donor organizations like George and Alex Soros’s Open Society Foundations.
Trump has called for the Justice Department to explore racketeering charges under RICO laws against Soros and related protest networks, citing their alleged role in promoting civil unrest and politically motivated violence. Open Society Foundations has openly contested that these allegations are baseless.
“We’re going to look into Soros, because I think it’s a RICO case against him and other people,” Trump said in a Fox and Friends appearance last week.
Kirk’s assassination renews scrutiny
The records’ release comes one week after Kirk was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University, an act that officials say was politically motivated. Authorities revealed that bullet casings recovered at the scene included antifascist messaging, and online messages and additional evidence from the suspect, Tyler Robinson, indicate he may have been driven by Leftist ideology.
Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) and DOJ officials have confirmed that the inquiry remains ongoing but acknowledged that Robinson had begun to slide in the direction of left-wing extremist ideology in recent months. Robinson was hit with seven criminal charges on Tuesday and is facing the death penalty.
It is not immediately clear why Kirk’s group was on the FBI’s radar, but several of the figures that were targeted, including former Trump attorney John Eastman and Powell, made controversial allegations about the 2020 election.
Echoes of the IRS-Lerner scandal
Grassley drew a direct parallel between Arctic Frost and the Obama-era IRS scandal involving Lois Lerner, who was accused of targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny.
“I think it ought to remind us that it’s a continuation of what happened in the Obama administration with the Lois Lerner attack through the IRS of investigating conservative nonprofits. It’s something that shouldn’t happen in our political system, and it’s an example of FBI political weaponization,” Grassley told Fox News.
The IRS scandal erupted in 2013 after it was revealed that the agency’s Exempt Organizations division, led by Lerner, had subjected dozens of conservative and Tea Party-affiliated nonprofit groups to heightened scrutiny, delays, and intrusive questioning when they applied for tax-exempt status. Multiple investigations found that IRS officials used political keywords to flag right-leaning groups, sparking national outrage and condemnation. Although Lerner later resigned, the controversy became a lasting symbol of what Republicans call the weaponization of government against ideological opponents.
“It’s a continuation of what happened in the Obama administration,” Grassley said. “It’s an example of FBI political weaponization.”
Grassley emphasized that the Arctic Frost probe’s full scope was only made public thanks to whistleblower courage: “None of this would be known if we hadn’t had whistleblowers in the FBI and DOJ come forward.”
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