Judicial Watch Sues for FBI Records on Biden Lawfare Scheme to Prosecute and Jail Trump

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice for records about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) investigation of Donald Trump codenamed “Arctic Frost,” which was part of an unprecedented effort by the Biden administration to prosecute and jail President Trump for disputing Biden’s controversial election victory (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-02011)).

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the FBI, a component of the Justice Department, failed to respond to a January 30, 2025, FOIA request for:

All reports, notes, summaries, interview transcripts, or similar records pertaining to the FBI investigation Arctic Frost.

In January 2025, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) publicized records about the targeting of Trump:

Internal FBI emails and predicating documents provided to Grassley and released jointly by the two senators show Timothy Thibault, a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) who was forced to retire from the Bureau after Grassley exposed his public anti-Trump bias, authored the initial language for what ultimately became Jack Smith’s federal case against Trump regarding the 2020 presidential election. Records show Thibault essentially opened and approved his own investigation. The FBI titled the ensuing investigation “Arctic Frost.”

Records further reveal Richard Pilger, an official in the Justice Department (DOJ)’s Public Integrity Section, reviewed and approved the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, authorizing DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and Grand Jury investigation that ultimately transformed into the Trump elector case. Grassley published a 2021 report that raised concerns regarding Pilger’s troubling record at DOJ.

“Frankly, we shouldn’t have to sue to get these records about how the Biden gang at the FBI and DOJ tried to rig an election by jailing Trump for disputing the 2020 election,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Attorney General Bondi and FBI Director Patel should focus on transparency under law, so the American people can know the full truth on this law attack on Trump – and our constitutional republic.”

In March 2025, Judicial Watch sued the Justice Department for details of any investigations, inquiries, or referrals concerning potential misconduct of any person working for Special Counsel Jack Smith (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:25-cv-00801)). 

Also in March, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis was ordered to turn over 212 pages of records to a state court judge. The court also ordered Willis to detail how the records were found and the reason for withholding them from the public. The records were belatedly disclosed in response to a Judicial Watch request and lawsuit for communications with Special Counsel Jack Smith and the House January 6 Committee. In January Judicial Watch was awarded $21,578 for “attorney’s fees and costs” incurred in the case. The court previously found Willis in default and stated: “The Court finds Defendant [Willis, in her official capacity] is in default and has been since 11 April 2024” (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Fani Willis et al. (No. 24-CV-002805)).

In January 2025, a federal court ordered the Justice Department to provide Judicial Watch information on communications between Special Counsel Jack Smith and Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis regarding the prosecution of then-former President Donald Trump. In May, the Justice Department was directed to search text messages from the Special Counsel’s Office for responsive records (Judicial Watch v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 23-cv-03110).

In January 2025, records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) showed it and the FBI warning that law enforcement agencies should be prepared for a surge in threats from so-called Domestic Violence Extremists (DVEs) following the August 8, 2022, FBI raid on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Homeland Security (1:22-cv-03275)).

In May 2024, Judicial Watch uncovered a recording of a phone message left by an FBI special agent for someone at the Secret Service in the context of the raid on President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:22-cv-03147)).

In February 2024, the Justice Department asked a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01485)). 

In August 2022, Judicial Watch successfully sued to unseal the search warrant affidavit used to justify the unprecedented raid on the home of former President Trump (U.S. v. Sealed Search Warrant (No. 9:22-mj-08332)).

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Source: https://www.judicialwatch.org/biden-lawfare-scheme/