Senator Rick Scott, along with Senator Marsha Blackburn and other colleagues, has sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting the unsealing of grand jury materials related to the Department of Justice’s Arctic Frost investigation. The probe, initiated during President Biden’s administration, targeted several Republican members of Congress and former President Trump.
The senators are seeking transparency regarding the DOJ’s actions. In their letter, they state: “We write today to urge you to use every tool at your disposal to uncover a key component of the weaponized, Biden-era Arctic Frost investigation that targeted ten United States Senators. As you know, the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) sought and ultimately obtained cell phone ‘tolling data’ from at least eleven members of Congress. While we have learned more about the corrupt nature of this investigation in the weeks that have followed this disturbing revelation, there is still much that we do not know.”
According to the letter, in May 2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith directed subpoenas for cell phone records from telecommunications companies covering calls made between January 4 and January 7, 2021. These subpoenas were accompanied by nondisclosure orders signed by Chief Judge James Boasberg.
The senators referenced provisions under the Stored Communications Act that allow for such nondisclosure orders only if certain conditions are met—such as concerns about witness intimidation or destruction of evidence. They questioned Judge Boasberg’s finding of “reasonable grounds” for secrecy: “Astoundingly, Judge Boasberg found ‘reasonable grounds’ to conclude that, if we were notified of these unlawful subpoenas, ‘such disclosure will result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and serious jeopardy to the [Arctic Frost] investigation.’ In short, without citing any factual basis to support these supposed ‘reasonable grounds,’ Judge Boasberg determined that multiple United States Senators would destroy evidence and intimidate witnesses—a conclusion that defies both logic and the facts. Plain and simple: we did nothing wrong, and there is zero evidence to conclude that we would have destroyed evidence or intimidated witnesses.”
The letter further requests Attorney General Bondi move immediately to unseal applications associated with these gag orders: “We urge you to immediately move to unseal and provide this application that accompanied the gag order. Judge Boasberg’s order was a blatant abuse of power, and we must get to the bottom of how he arrived at the baseless conclusion that duly elected members of Congress would destroy evidence or intimidate witnesses.”
The senators accuse Special Counsel Jack Smith and DOJ officials under President Biden’s administration of using government resources against political opponents: “Jack Smith and the Biden DOJ spied on their political opponents, violated the Constitution, and weaponized the justice system to target members of Congress—all in an effort to go after President Trump. The American people deserve transparency about this egregious investigation and the full extent of the corruption of Jack Smith’s witch hunt. Unsealing this document is a critical step forward in our efforts to hold accountable Jack Smith, Judge Boasberg, and all individuals who participated in this miscarriage of justice.”
Senator Scott has also separately called for an investigation into what he describes as a “witch hunt” by sending letters both to AG Bondi for a DOJ inquiry into these actions and to Verizon regarding their compliance with federal requests for information.
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