Category: Arctic frost
‘Unfit for the gavel’: House GOPs sound off on Judge Boasberg, stand with senators in calling for impeachment
House Republicans are ramping up the pressure on activist judges in the wake of the bombshell findings about Operation Arctic Frost.
The revelations concluded that former President Joe Biden’s FBI targeted conservative groups, private citizens, and even sitting senators. One recurring name in a thread of surveillance scandals is James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who greenlit the subpoenas that targeted Republicans.
‘It is clear that Judge Boasberg has abused his judicial authority for weaponized political purposes.’
In light of his involvement, a growing number of House Republicans are standing with outraged senators in calling for his impeachment.
“It is clear that Judge Boasberg has abused his judicial authority for weaponized political purposes,” Republican Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana told Blaze News. “His unconstitutional blocking of President Trump from making America great again and involvement in Arctic Frost are reason enough to remove him from the bench. Impeachment hearings should begin immediately.”
RELATED: ‘Not. One. Story.’ Liberal news outlets’ silence regarding Biden’s ‘enemies list’ is deafening
Photo by DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images
“A judge waging lawfare against elected senators of the United States and weaponizing their power for political gain should be impeached,” Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina told Blaze News. “Full stop.”
Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas took matters into his own hands and introduced articles of impeachment against Boasberg to “hold him accountable for his attempt to undermine the will of the people.”
“Radical activist Judge James Boasberg continues to weaponize his judicial authority and target his political opponents,” Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas told Blaze News. “Judge Boasberg facilitated the egregious Arctic Frost scandal where he equipped the Biden DOJ to spy on Republican senators. His lack of integrity makes him clearly unfit for the gavel.”
Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma called Arctic Frost a “Watergate-level scandal,” saying the only way to restore faith in the legal system is to impeach activist judges like Boasberg.
“Under a directive from Special Counsel Jack Smith, the Biden DOJ spied on almost every major conservative group — including the Trump campaign and the RNC,” Brecheen told Blaze News. “This is a Watergate-level scandal for which accountability must be had. We must take all the steps available under law to pursue justice and restore the American people’s faith in our legal system. This starts with beginning the impeachment process for any corrupt judges involved in this scandal.”
RELATED: Damning new docs reveal who’s on Biden admin’s ‘enemies list,’ expose extent of FBI’s Arctic Frost
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Gill’s fellow Texan Republican Rep. August Pfluger also railed against Boasberg’s involvement in the surveillance effort, calling for an investigation. Pfluger likewise joined Brecheen to urge Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Jack Smith and “every single Biden-era DOJ bureaucrat” who partook in this scandal.
“Jack Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation into President Trump, Republican lawmakers, and conservative groups has turned out to be exactly what we expected: an unconstitutional political witch hunt,” Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas told Blaze News. “The weaponization of our nation’s top law enforcement agency to target political opponents is unacceptable, especially in the United States.”
“These individuals must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law — and we will ensure this kind of blatant corruption never happens again.”
The House has the sole authority to introduce articles of impeachment for a judge, and just a simple majority is needed to pass them. Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, 219-213.
Editor’s Note: This article was update to include a statement from Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Republicans torch Obama judge over his role in Biden FBI’s ‘partisan vendetta,’ demand impeachment
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and other Republicans are seeking the impeachment of U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, the Obama appointee who apparently helped the Biden FBI spy on Republican lawmakers’ phone records.
During a press conference on Wednesday regarding the latest insights into the FBI’s Arctic Frost operation, Cruz called on the House to impeach Boasberg, stating, “Judge Boasberg put his robes down, stood up, and said, ‘Sign me up to be part of the partisan vendetta against 20% of the Republicans in the Senate.'”
‘This order is an abuse of power.’
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) underscored that what Boasberg “did to Senator Cruz and maybe other senators absolutely — and I don’t say this lightly — absolutely is worthy of impeachment proceedings. There has to be accountability.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) published documents earlier this month detailing how the Biden FBI sought private cellphone records from at least nine Republican lawmakers during Arctic Frost — an operation that set the stage for at least one case brought against President Donald Trump by former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s special counsel, Jack Smith, whose appointment was ruled unconstitutional.
Grassley released additional documents this week showing that Smith and his team subpoenaed records for over 400 Republican individuals and entities as part of what the Iowa senator called a “fishing expedition.”
Cruz — whose Senate office hardline and cellphone records were reportedly targeted — suggested on Wednesday that the indiscriminate targeting of conservatives was “egregious” and that the secret subpoenaing of lawmakers’ communication records was executed “in complete contravention of the Constitution, of separation of powers, of the Speech and Debate Clause, of free speech, of basic rights and property.”
The Texas senator produced a court order apparently indicating that Boasberg barred AT&T from informing Cruz that his phone data was being collected by the Biden administration. The prohibition was to remain in effect for at least one year.
RELATED: Damning new docs reveal who’s on Biden admin’s ‘enemies list,’ expose extent of FBI’s Arctic Frost
Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The order reportedly stated as cause that “the court finds reasonable grounds to believe that such disclosure will result in destruction of or tampering with evidence, intimidation of potential witnesses, and serious jeopardy to the investigation.”
“I can tell you there is precisely zero evidence to conclude that I am likely to destroy or tamper with evidence or to intimidate potential witnesses. Zero evidentiary basis for that,” stressed Cruz. “This order is an abuse of power. This order is a weaponized legal system.”
‘Boasberg is that radical leftist judge who is out of control.’
Cruz admitted that he had not yet seen the subpoenas for the other senators but speculated “Judge Boasberg printed these things out like the placemats at Denny’s, one after the other.”
The Texas senator noted that if a litigant makes a claim for which there is no factual basis, “that litigant is subject to sanctions in federal court — and if a judge signs an order reaching a factual conclusion for which there is zero evidence whatsoever, that judge is abusing his power.”
Blaze News has reached out to Boasberg for comment.
‘Who is Boasberg?’
“Now who is Boasberg? Boasberg is that radical leftist judge who is out of control, who has been issuing nationwide injunctions, one after the other, trying to stop President Trump from carrying out his mandate from the voters,” said Cruz.
Boasberg has worked ardently in recent years to earn the label “radical leftist.” For instance, he:
- ordered in August the release of a woman accused of repeatedly threatening Trump’s life;
- temporarily blocked summary deportations of apparent Tren de Aragua terrorists by the Trump administration under the Alien Enemies Act;
- tried unsuccessfully to hold Trump administration officials in contempt for deporting illegal aliens to El Salvador;
- kept Kevin Clinesmith — the former FBI attorney who, according to the DOJ, fabricated evidence to support a surveillance application to the same FISA court, lying about Carter Page’s past cooperation with the CIA — out of jail; and
- mandated a right to Medicaid for able-bodied adults without work requirements.
The demands that Boasberg face accountability for his involvement with the FBI’s Arctic Frost “fishing expedition” come just months after Attorney General Pam Bondi slapped him with a misconduct complaint for allegedly “making improper public comments about President Trump and his administration.”
This is also not the first time that Republicans have called for his impeachment.
After ordering the Trump administration not to deport suspected members of the Tren de Aragua terrorist organization, President Trump called for Boasberg to be impeached, suggesting in a March 18 post on Truth Social that Boasberg was a “radical Left Lunatic of a Judge.”
That same day, Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (Texas) introduced articles of impeachment accusing Boasberg of attempting to seize power from the executive branch, thereby interfering with the will of the American people; jeopardizing the safety of the nation; and engaging in actions that prioritize political gain over the duty of impartiality owed the litigants in the case.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Boasberg’s Senate Spying Gag Order Violated Federal Law
Boasberg is one of many low-court judges who have shown themselves to be lawless political actors whose jurisprudence is hostile to a functioning republic.
‘Not. One. Story.’ Liberal news outlets’ silence regarding Biden’s ‘enemies list’ is deafening
The liberal media wasted a great deal of airtime and ink over the past decade fearmongering about the Russian collusion narrative but clammed up earlier this year when the Trump administration produced receipts demonstrating that the basis of multiple investigations and numerous arrests was nothing more than a hoax perpetrated on the American people by the Obama administration.
In the wake of revelations this week about Operation Arctic Frost — chiefly about the Biden FBI’s surveillance of Republican lawmakers and indiscriminate targeting of conservatives — the liberal media has once again proven strategically incurious, evidencing the unidirectional nature of their outrage.
‘They screamed when Nixon’s “enemy list” was exposed.’
The New York Times, for instance, has concern–mongered in recent weeks about personnel changes at the Justice Department and the Trump administration’s alleged use of “the federal government’s vast intelligence gathering and law enforcement authority to cast the specter of criminality on Mr. Trump’s enemies.”
However, with the apparent exception of an Oct. 7 article focusing on Republican denunciations of special counsel Jack Smith’s covert collection of lawmakers’ phone records and an Oct. 21 article boosting denials issued on Smith’s behalf by his lawyers, the Times has avoided troubling itself with questions about Arctic Frost or the latest documents highlighting the Biden FBI’s targeting of conservatives.
The Times was far from the only liberal publication to ignore the documents released this week by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) and the House Judiciary Committee revealing the massive scope of the Arctic Frost dragnet.
The Washington Post, CBS News, ABC News, and the Atlantic similarly appear to have largely ignored the matter, publishing little to nothing this week on the latest bombshells.
RELATED: Damning new docs reveal who’s on Biden admin’s ‘enemies list,’ expose extent of FBI’s Arctic Frost
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
CNN’s coverage this month appears to be limited to a piece boosting denials on Smith’s behalf and an analysis piece by senior reporter Aaron Blake, who did his apparent best to downplay the finding that Smith had covertly obtained the phone records of Republican lawmakers.
Blake claimed that the “GOP is exaggerating the evidence”; that the evidence does not “fit what is traditionally understood to constitute ‘spying'”; that the surveillance of lawmakers’ communications is not unprecedented; and that “we certainly don’t have evidence that it was done for political purposes.”
While MSNBC, NBC News, and Politico seemed interested in engaging with the story prior to this week, their efforts were apparently focused on downplaying the findings, portraying Smith as a victim, and painting Arctic Frost as an apolitical investigation and Republicans’ concerns as unhinged.
Trump ally Roger Stone noted, “They screamed when Nixon’s ‘enemy list’ was exposed. Why aren’t the media and the Democrats talking about the Arctic Frost TARGET LIST — the ultimate weaponization of the criminal justice system?”
Tom Bevan, the president of RealClearPolitics, expressed amazement, writing on Thursday morning, “No mention of Arctic Frost in the NY Times or the Washington Post. These are not ‘news’ organizations any more.”
Bevan added, “Same on CNN, ABC News, CBS News … and NBC News. Not. One. Story.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) said Wednesday that what is revealed in the latest document dumps regarding Arctic Frost “is nothing short of a Biden administration enemies list. I’m old enough to understand how toxic a term that was under Richard Nixon. This is far worse — far worse, orders of magnitude worse.”
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Is this the insidious reason Biden’s FBI chose ‘Arctic Frost’ for anti-Trump weaponized investigation?
“Arctic Frost” was an FBI operation greenlit in April 2022 by former Director Christopher Wray and ex-Attorney General Merrick Garland that targeted various individuals supportive of President Donald Trump and/or skeptical of the results of the 2020 election.
The investigation, which was formally assigned to special counsel Jack Smith in November 2022, ultimately resulted in the four-count indictment Smith filed in August 2023 accusing Trump of attempting to disrupt the lawful transfer of power.
It turns out that the partisan nature of the investigation was baked in at the outset — right into its name.
‘They were so out of control, and thought they never would get caught.’
Following Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R) publication of documents on Friday showing that Wray, Garland, and former Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco approved the opening of Arctic Frost, Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, stated that “what you should know is that they were so out of control, and thought they never would get caught, that they named this investigation after an orange to mock Trump.”
RELATED: Damning new docs reveal who’s on Biden admin’s ‘enemies list,’ expose extent of FBI’s Arctic Frost
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Arctic frost is the name of a satsuma mandarin orange hybrid. Early in its investigation into Operation Arctic Frost, the Oversight Project revealed that “the corrupt FBI agents who opened this case named it this to mock” Trump.
Many of Trump’s detractors — including disgraced former FBI Director James Comey — have in years past suggested that he has an orange pigmentation.
In addition to serving as a nod to fellow Trump antagonists, the alleged naming of the operation as an intended insult to Trump signals that it was, from its very inception, nothing more than a partisan campaign aimed at the ruination of the president and his allies.
Blaze News has reached out to the FBI for comment.
Editor’s note: Mike Howell is a contributor at Blaze News.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Arctic Frost Docs Expose Breadth Of Biden DOJ’s Weaponization
There could be no valid reason for such a widespread probe other than to destroy not just Trump, but anyone within six-degrees of separation.
House Judiciary Says FBI’s ‘Arctic Frost’ Probe Potentially Targeted Over 150 Republicans
‘Were potentially under investigation’