Sen. Ted Cruz calls for impeachment of judge who allowed illegal ‘Arctic Frost’ spying on conservative lawmakers

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is calling for the impeachment of a federal judge who, he says, enabled unlawful surveillance of conservative lawmakers and political groups by the FBI during the Biden administration. Cruz accused US District Judge James Boasberg of signing a gag order that blocked AT&T from notifying him about a subpoena for his phone records. According to Cruz, the order effectively concealed a federal operation targeting members of Congress and conservative organizations.

https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz/status/1984013953127870600

The surveillance effort, referred to as “Arctic Frost,” focused on several prominent Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania. Cruz said the FBI’s actions represented a gross abuse of power and demanded that Judge Boasberg be impeached for authorizing it. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa said that former FBI special counsel Jack Smith used “Arctic Frost” as a pretext to monitor Republicans and conservative operatives under the guise of national security. Grassley called the operation “a fishing expedition” and likened it to a modern-day Watergate, alleging that the Biden administration surveilled as many as 156 Republicans. Both senators said the public deserves full transparency and accountability over how the Department of Justice and FBI were able to obtain and conceal records of elected officials without their knowledge.