Biden Admin Turned Over Trump, Pence Cellphones To FBI As Part Of ‘Gotcha’ Probe
In May 2022, the Biden White House provided the FBI with government cellphones belonging to former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. This move linked Trump to an ongoing investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election without substantial justification.
Fox News Digital, which first broke the story, reported that the FBI did not need a warrant to obtain the devices from the Biden administration. However, once in possession of the phones, agents began drafting a search warrant to access their data, sources familiar with the matter revealed to the outlet.
“The Biden White House played right along with the FBI’s ‘gotcha’ scheme against Trump,” a source told Fox News. “Biden’s Office of White House Counsel, under the leadership of Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, gave its blessing and accommodation for the FBI to physically obtain Trump and Pence’s phones in early May 2022. Weeks later, the FBI began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data.”
The devices were entered into evidence as part of the FBI’s initial probe into the 2020 election, an investigation later taken over by special counsel Jack Smith. Internally referred to as “Arctic Frost,” the case was launched on April 13, 2022, by former FBI agent Timothy Thibault, who had a known anti-Trump stance.
Whistleblower reports indicate that Thibault bypassed established protocols by playing a central role in launching and advancing the investigation, thereby implicating Trump without sufficient grounds, according to Fox News. He exceeded his authority by initiating the probe, a responsibility designated exclusively to special agents authorized to open criminal cases.
Documents reviewed by Fox reveal that Thibault had committed to prioritizing the case "over all others in the Branch." He was also quoted saying, "it frankly took too long for us to open this (investigation)."
By late April 2022, the FBI had started scheduling more than a dozen interviews related to the case, working in coordination with 13 field offices across the country, Fox News reported.
The information comes from legally protected whistleblower disclosures submitted to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), which were reviewed by Fox News. Grassley and Johnson forwarded these disclosures and related records to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel late Thursday, the outlet noted.
“The new records we are making public point to an aggressive investigation run by anti-Trump agents and prosecutors intent on using every resource available to pursue Trump and his supporters,” Grassley and Johnson stated.
The first documented reference to the Trump and Pence phones dates back to April 25, 2022. The record stated: "DOJ and FBI were informed that government-issued cellphones that purportedly previously belonged to former Vice President Mike Pence and former President Donald J. Trump were in the possession of individuals at the White House. DOJ is currently conducting analysis regarding the FBI taking possession of and processing the phones."
Records further show that on May 4, 2022, FBI agents seized the phones, entered them into evidence, and delayed processing them until search warrants were secured. That same day, agents also conducted an interview with Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su.
A subsequent request for further details about the phones was sent on May 9, 2022, from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., to White House Counsel Dana Remus, according to Fox. However, it remains unclear whether then-President Biden was aware of the situation or had directed the phones to be handed over.
Additionally, agents sought to interview former Trump administration officials, including personnel from the offices of the President and Vice President, the Department of Justice, and then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe—who now serves as the CIA director in the second Trump administration.
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” Grassley and Johnson wrote to Bondi and Patel, as reported by Fox. “The American people deserve to know the complete extent of the corruption within the DOJ and FBI that led to the investigation into President Trump.”