Special counsel Jack Smith went after Senator Ted Cruz’s phone records during his probe into the 2020 election challenges, zeroing in on a narrow window from January 4 to 7, 2021. That period covered the lead-up to the January 6 protests, when Cruz and others raised valid questions about electoral integrity. Yet AT&T refused to hand over the data, so those records never made it into Smith’s January 6 case file.
Why Cruz? He wasn’t the most outspoken voice calling for deeper analysis of the 2020 stolen election. And while he questioned the results, there were other Senators and members of Congress who would seem to be bigger targets.
Cruz is the ninth Republican senator caught in the DOJ’s net under the Biden administration. Others included Marsha Blackburn, Ron Johnson, Bill Hagerty, Josh Hawley, Cynthia Lummis, Lindsey Graham, Dan Sullivan, and Tommy Tuberville, plus Representative Mike Kelly. The subpoenas demanded everything: names, addresses, call logs, texts, voicemails—the works. But for some reason, Cruz was singled out for special focus.
“Arctic Frost was the Biden administration’s 21st-century digital Watergate,” Cruz told Axios. “They weaponized the DOJ and FBI to try to access records on me, President Trump, and other political opponents of the Democrat Party.”
He added, “It was intentional, targeted political spying that likely went to the very highest levels of the administration — demonstrating utter contempt for the Constitution and separation of powers — and there should be the broadest possible investigations and accountability.”
The code name “Arctic Frost” refers to the FBI’s sweeping operation that underpinned Smith’s election interference case against Trump. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has been digging into this, revealing how the Biden FBI spied on eight Republican senators as part of it. Grassley’s oversight uncovered hundreds of subpoenas and dozens of interviews, all aimed at conservatives who dared to question the 2020 outcome.
Why Cruz in particular? He led the charge in the Senate to object to Arizona’s electors, citing widespread concerns over fraud and procedural flaws, but he was only mildly involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement outside of mild legal maneuvers. Was Smith trying to silence a key defender of election security in general, or was Cruz onto something with the angles he took?
Look at the pattern: Smith’s aggressive tactics now face backlash as the tables turn. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan demanded Smith testify, grilling him on how many other members of Congress got swept up in Arctic Frost. Republicans like Senator Marsha Blackburn are calling for Smith’s law license to be investigated, accusing him of improperly targeting lawmakers.
It’s telling that President Trump’s political adversaries are now in the crosshairs—John Bolton just got indicted for mishandling classified documents, with the DOJ alleging he shared top-secret info via personal accounts. Letitia James, who hounded Trump with civil suits, faces federal bank fraud charges over a shady property deal in Virginia. Even James Comey stands indicted for false statements, tied to his anti-Trump antics at the FBI.
This isn’t a so-called “revenge tour” as leftists and legacy media are painting it. The Trump administration has the Deep State in its crosshairs, an apparatus that protects its own while punishing dissenters. Smith’s subpoena of Cruz smells like an attempt to intimidate those fighting for transparent elections, perhaps coordinated from the top to kneecap Republican leaders before they could expose more.
With Grassley demanding telecom companies cough up all records provided to Smith, and the FBI firing agents who worked on the probe, the full scope of this surveillance scandal could blow wide open. Accountability can’t come soon enough.
