politics
Senate Committee Publishes FBI Records on 2021 Surveillance of Republican Lawmakers
New records released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley detail the FBI's Operation Rampart Twelve, which targeted phone records of GOP members based on unsubstantiated rumors. The operation extended into 2022 despite concerns over lack of evidence. It is linked to subsequent investigations involving President Trump.
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U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman released new records on Tuesday detailing the FBI's surveillance of Republican lawmakers in 2021. The records show that the FBI initiated Operation Rampart Twelve on January 22, 2021, based on rumors from Democrat Rep.
Mikie Sherrill’s Facebook live. Those rumors alleged that Republican representatives Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar led reconnaissance tours in advance of the January 6 Capitol events. Rep. Mikie Sherrill led a group of more than 30 House Democrats in sending a letter to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms demanding information about January 5 visitors.
Department of Justice prosecutors voiced concerns that the allegations in Operation Rampart Twelve lacked evidence and legal justification. Operation Rampart Twelve was set to expire in July 2021, but FBI Washington Field Office’s then-assistant special agent in charge Timothy Thibault urged for an extension. The FBI kept Operation Rampart Twelve open until January 27, 2022.
The Federalist reported that the FBI covertly obtained phone toll records of several GOP members of Congress in 2021. News broke in 2025 that the Biden-era FBI spied on eight Republican senators’ personal cell phone information. noted during the April 21 Judiciary subcommittee hearing that Operation Rampart Twelve appeared to be a predecessor case to Arctic Frost.
The investigation known as Arctic Frost formed the basis of Jack Smith’s elector case against President Donald Trump. At least one of the bureaucrats who led the Arctic Frost targeting scheme remains employed at the DOJ.
