This Defines a Police State
Segment # 1050
When Dems Return to Power They Will do it Again
Arctic Frost investigated whether Trump's challenge to the 2020 election crossed the line from political/legal contest into a criminal conspiracy to obstruct the lawful transfer of presidential power. The current DOJ's examination has uncovered evidence of serious procedural and constitutional problems in Arctic Frost and has characterized aspects of the prior investigation as “egregious abuses.” The disclosures substantially undermine the manner in which the investigation was initiated and conducted.
17 Republican members of Congress — by December 2025, Sen. Chuck Grassley said the investigation had obtained/subpoenaed phone records involving 11 Republican senators and 6 Republican House members. The Congressional Record confirms that 17 figure. GovInfo
The investigation later expanded/documented a broader universe: Senate Judiciary reported 10 telecom subpoenas seeking tolling records for 20 current or former Republican members of Congress. Senate Judiciary Committee
At least 430 named Republican individuals and entities were swept into subpoenas issued in Arctic Frost. Grassley released 197 subpoenas—sent to 34 individuals and 163 businesses—seeking testimony, communications, banking/financial information, and other records concerning those 430+ Republican people and organizations. Senate Judiciary Committee
Separately, investigators obtained and reviewed text messages involving 44 members of Congress. Importantly, that group was bipartisan, so it would be incorrect to describe all 44 as Republicans. Senate Judiciary Committee
What exactly was collected from the Republican lawmakers?
For the best-documented group, investigators obtained telephone toll records: who called whom, when the call occurred, its duration, and associated metadata. They did not obtain the audio/content of the calls through those toll-record subpoenas. The original disclosure identified eight Republican senators plus Rep. Mike Kelly. Senate Judiciary Committee
The eight senators initially identified were Lindsey Graham, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Dan Sullivan, Tommy Tuberville, Ron Johnson, Cynthia Lummis, and Marsha Blackburn, plus Rep. Mike Kelly. Chuck Grassley
There were also nondisclosure/gag orders, meaning the affected lawmakers generally weren't informed at the time that their records had been sought. Smith himself subsequently acknowledged that his office sought non-content toll records and generally sought nondisclosure orders with those subpoenas. House Document Repository
Bottom line
Jack Smith secretly spied on Republican members of Congress whose telephone records were secretly subpoenaed, the documented count reached at least 17 (11 senators + 6 representatives), with later congressional investigation identifying subpoenas seeking records involving 20 current or former Republican members of Congress. GovInfo
If you mean the entire Republican universe targeted by Arctic Frost subpoenas, the number is at least 430 named Republican individuals and organizations, through 197 subpoenas. Senate Judiciary Committee
One precision point matters for the congressional phone-record operation. These were principally metadata/toll records, not recordings of the lawmakers' conversations. Calling it secret surveillance or secret acquisition of phone records describes what occurred House Document Repository
The House Judiciary Committee released a new report on September 23, 2026 concerning this issue, so I can also break down all 20 Republican members by name, exactly what Smith obtained on each one, which carrier supplied it, and how long each gag order lasted
Yes. I checked the September 23, 2026 House Judiciary material. There is an important numerical distinction that makes the story clearer.
The House Judiciary Committee report identifies at least 17 Republican members whose telephone toll records were targeted/obtained. Separately, the Senate Judiciary investigation says 10 subpoenas to Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile involved 20 current or former Republican members. .” House Judiciary Committee
The 17 specifically identified in the House record are:
Kevin McCarthy
Jim Jordan
Mike Kelly
Louie Gohmert
Chip Roy
Scott Fitzgerald
Marsha Blackburn
Lindsey Graham
Bill Hagerty
Josh Hawley
Ron Johnson
John Kennedy
Mike Lee
Rick Scott
Cynthia Lummis
Dan Sullivan
Tommy Tuberville
That list appears in the House committee's legislative report summarizing the same investigation and cites the Special Counsel's May 17, 2023 memorandum and the underlying subpoenas. GovInfo
What was actually obtained
For most of these members, the relevant records were telephone “toll records” or metadata, not recordings of calls. That can reveal the telephone numbers communicating with one another, dates/times, and duration of calls. It does not ordinarily contain the spoken content of the calls. The investigative purpose, according to testimony cited by the House, was to reconstruct members' communications and identify their communication “networks” around significant congressional activity. GovInfo
There was a separate and much broader issue involving actual text-message content involving 44 current or former members of Congress. Those messages were obtained from White House/National Archives material—not from the phone companies—so that should not be conflated with the 17/20 toll-record subpoenas. Dispute Index
Carriers we can establish conclusively
The public record does not yet permit an honest carrier-by-carrier identification for every one of the 17 or 20. But several are established:
MemberCarrier established publiclyWhat was sought/producedKevin McCarthyAT&TToll records; AT&T acknowledged complying with a subpoena concerning McCarthy.Mike LeeT-MobileToll records from Lee's personal phone.Lindsey GrahamVerizonSenate-associated line included in May 25, 2023 subpoena.Ted CruzVerizonSenate-associated line included in the same May 25 subpoena. Cruz is part of the broader Senate-disclosed universe, although notably he is not one of the 17 names in the House summary list above.
Grassley stated these carrier relationships explicitly during the February telecom hearing. Rev
Verizon also acknowledged that the subpoenas it received involved multiple senators. An FBI analysis publicly released earlier identified records for Graham, Hagerty, Hawley, Sullivan, Tuberville, Johnson, Lummis and Blackburn, plus Rep. Mike Kelly. Wikipedia
Jim Jordan is particularly significant
Jordan's subpoena preceded Jack Smith's appointment. Investigators sought his phone records covering approximately January 1, 2020 through April 25, 2022. The DOJ Public Integrity Section reportedly recognized a potential Speech-or-Debate-Clause “litigation risk” but nevertheless approved the process. Toll-record subpoenas for Chip Roy and Scott Fitzgerald followed in May 2022—also before Smith became Special Counsel in November 2022. Dispute Index
That matters because saying simply “Jack Smith subpoenaed all of them” isn't technically accurate. The Arctic Frost operation began under the Biden DOJ before Smith arrived. Smith's office subsequently inherited the investigation and approved or pursued many additional congressional subpoenas.
And the gag orders?
The subpoenas were accompanied in numerous instances by nondisclosure orders (NDOs) preventing the carriers from notifying the affected members. The House report's central constitutional argument is that this prevented members from appearing in court to assert Speech or Debate Clause protections. House Judiciary Committee
Some publicly released Arctic Frost NDOs apparently lasted at least one year,
The strongest factually defensible formulation
Congressional investigations have established that Arctic Frost and Jack Smith's subsequent Special Counsel investigation sought telephone records involving at least 20 current or former Republican members of Congress. The September 23 House Judiciary report identifies at least 17 Republicans whose toll records were targeted or obtained. Investigators used secret subpoenas accompanied by nondisclosure orders, preventing affected members from knowing their records had been obtained and therefore from immediately asserting Speech or Debate Clause protections.
The House Judiciary Committee itself goes considerably further, concluding that the conduct violated constitutional separation-of-powers protections. Jack Smith disputes the characterization that his office “spied” on Congress and maintains that obtaining non-content toll records by subpoena was lawful investigative practice. House Judiciary Committee