Biden admin. targeted Charlie Kirk’s org, conservative groups

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Friday, September 19, 2025U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. | YouTube/Associated PressThe Biden administration has been accused of targeting 92 conservative groups, including the late Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, while investigating Donald Trump, with one senator saying the investigation went after the “entire Republican political apparatus.”Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, presented additional information on the Arctic Frost investigation at a hearing on Tuesday centered on oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Known as “Arctic Frost,” the investigation by the Biden administration looked into the extent to which Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.”These new records show that Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter,” stated Grassley in his opening remarks. “The case was expanded to Republican organizations.”Groups added to the Biden-era investigation included the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association and Turning Point USA, the young conservative activist group co-founded and formerly led by Kirk, who was killed last week at the age of 31.”In other words, Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley continued. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and Department of Justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”The Arctic Frost investigation was opened in April 2022 and coordinated by the FBI and other federal entities. Special counsel Jack Smith was assigned to the investigation in November 2022.FBI Director Chris Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 and kept on by the Biden administration, oversaw the bureau during the investigation. Wray was replaced by Kash Patel earlier this year.In 2023, Smith indicted Trump on four felony charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, which came in response to the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.The charges levied by Smith included conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States and exploiting the Jan. 6 protest to remain in power.Trump had argued in part that his actions were protected by “presidential immunity,” specifically that his actions were official acts that were part of his duties as president.The litigation led to the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a 6-3 ruling in July 2024 in the case of Trump v. United States that concluded that presidents have absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office. The decision itself did not determine whether Smith’s indictment should be dismissed.Smith filed a motion to drop the election interference case in November 2024, a few weeks after Trump won a second term as president, with a judge agreeing hours later.In January, Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., began to release whistleblower documents pertaining to Arctic Frost, which included works by FBI personnel accused of having strong anti-Trump biases. Follow Michael Gryboski on Twitter or Facebook