The Biden White House handed over government-issued cellphones belonging to former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to the FBI in May 2022 as part of an investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election, according to Fox News Digital.
The handover linked Trump to the investigation despite what some sources say was a lack of proper justification.
The FBI didn’t need a warrant to physically obtain the phones from the White House. However, after acquiring the devices, agents began preparing a search warrant to access the phones’ data, sources familiar with the investigation told Fox News Digital.
A source familiar with the investigation claimed that the Biden White House “played along with the FBI’s ‘gotcha’ scheme against Trump.”
The source stated that Biden’s Office of White House Counsel, led by Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, approved the handover of Trump and Pence’s phones in early May 2022.
Weeks later, the FBI began working on a search warrant to extract the phones’ data.
The phones were logged as evidence as part of the FBI’s initial investigation into Trump’s involvement in the 2020 election, which was later transferred to special counsel Jack Smith.
The case, internally known as “Arctic Frost,” was opened on April 13, 2022, by former FBI agent Timothy Thibault, who was known for his anti-Trump stance.
According to whistleblowers, Thibault violated FBI protocols by initiating and advancing the investigation despite lacking the authority to open criminal cases.
Only special agents have the power to open criminal investigations. Thibault allegedly pushed for the investigation to be prioritized and remarked that “it took too long for us to open this investigation.”
By late April 2022, the FBI had coordinated more than a dozen interviews across 13 field offices as part of the probe, according to sources.
These revelations are based on whistleblower disclosures shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson. Fox News Digital reviewed the disclosures.
Grassley and Johnson forwarded the documents to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, highlighting what they described as an “aggressive investigation” run by anti-Trump agents and prosecutors.
The first record mentioning the Trump and Pence phones was dated April 25, 2022. It noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI had been informed that the phones were in the possession of White House staff.
The record stated that the FBI took possession of the phones on May 4, 2022, but didn’t process them until after obtaining search warrants.
On the same day, FBI agents interviewed Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su. A follow-up letter requesting additional details about the phones was sent from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., to White House Counsel Dana Remus on May 9, 2022. Neither Remus nor Su commented on the matter when contacted by Fox News Digital.
A representative for President Joe Biden also did not respond to a request for comment about Biden’s knowledge of the situation.
Agents also sought interviews with former Trump administration officials, including staff from the offices of the President, Vice President, Department of Justice, and former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe served as CIA director during Trump’s second term.
Grassley and Johnson argued that the American public “deserves to know the complete extent of the corruption within the DOJ and FBI that led to the investigation into President Trump.”
They stated that they released the records “to hold the government accountable and prevent similar misconduct in the future.”
The senators requested all records related to the Arctic Frost investigation, including costs and investigative details, by March 27, 2025. They also asked for information about travel expenses and the total hours spent on the investigation.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that the bureau received the senators’ request and would work to comply.
Thibault was reportedly fired from the FBI in 2024 after violating the Hatch Act through political social media posts. Whistleblowers had previously accused him of showing political bias in cases involving Trump and Hunter Biden.
Jack Smith, a former DOJ official, was appointed as special counsel in November 2022 by former Attorney General Merrick Garland. Smith led the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents and alleged obstruction of the federal investigation.
Smith also oversaw the investigation into whether Trump or his allies interfered with the certification of the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021. Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.
In July 2024, the classified documents case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
Smith also charged Trump in Washington, D.C., over the 2020 election, but after Trump’s re-election, Smith moved to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted the dismissal.
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