• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

Anti-Trump FBI agent responsible for opening Jack Smith elector case against president: whistleblower

by January 30, 2025
written by January 30, 2025

WASHINGTON—A previously identified anti-Trump FBI agent allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication, whistleblower disclosures obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley revealed. 

That investigation into Trump was formally opened at the FBI on April 13, 2022, and was known inside the bureau as ‘Arctic Frost,’ Fox News Digital has learned. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson shared internal FBI emails and predicating documents — legally protected whistleblower disclosures — exclusively with Fox News Digital. 

The senators say the documents prove the genesis of the federal election interference case brought against Trump began at the hands of FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault. 

Fox News Digital exclusively reported in 2024 that Thibault had been fired from the FBI after he violated the Hatch Act in his political posts on social media. Previous whistleblowers claimed that Thibault had shown a ‘pattern of active public partisanship,’ which likely affected investigations involving Trump and Hunter Biden. 

Grassley first publicly revealed the existence of the whistleblower disclosures during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to serve as FBI director, Kash Patel, on Thursday. 

One email, obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed Thibault communicating with a subordinate agent on Feb. 14, 2022. 

Thibault said: ‘Here is draft opening language we discussed,’ and attached material that would later become part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case. 

Another email, sent by Thibault on Feb. 24, 2022, to a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, John Crabb, states: ‘I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject.’ 

Sources told Fox News Digital, though, that Thibault took the action to open the investigation and involve Trump, despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role — only special agents have the authority to open criminal investigations. 

Another email, sent on the same day, notes that he would seek approval from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to open the case. 

Next, an email on Feb. 25, 2022, sent by a subordinate agent, Michelle Ball, to Thibault states that they added Trump and others as a criminal subject to the case. 

Thibault responded: ‘Perfect.’ 

The fifth email, reviewed by Fox News Digital, reveals Thibault emailing a version of an investigative opening for approval. However, this email did not include Trump as a criminal subject. 

The sixth email, from April 11, 2022, shows Thibault approving the opening of Arctic Frost, and the next email, on April 13, 2022, was from an FBI agent to Thibault stating that the FBI deputy director approved its opening. 

Another email reviewed by Fox News Digital shows Thibault emailing DOJ official John Crabb notifying him that the elector case was approved. 

Crabb responded, ‘Thanks a lot. Let’s talk next week.’

‘Between March 22 and April 13, other versions of the document opening the investigation existed, because a ninth email shows that the FBI General Counsel’s office made edits on March 25,’ Grassley said during Patel’s confirmation hearing Thursday. ‘Was Trump still removed as an investigative subject?  If so, which Justice Department and FBI officials – other than Jack Smith – later added him for prosecution?’ 

The email records appear to show that an official in the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, Richard Pilger, reviewed and approved the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, authorizing DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and grand jury investigation that ultimately transformed into Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Trump-elector case. 

Grassley, in 2021, published a report which raised concerns regarding Pilger’s record at DOJ.

Fox News Digital first reported in July 2022 that Grassley warned Attorney General Merrick Garland that Thibault and Pilger were ‘deeply involved in the decisions to open and pursue election-related investigations against President Trump.’

At the time, whistleblowers told Grassley that the Thibault-Pilger investigation’s predicating document was based on information from ‘liberal nonprofit American Oversight.’ 

In the investigation’s opening memo sent to the upper levels of the DOJ for approval, however, whistleblowers claimed Thibault and Pilger ‘removed or watered-down material connected to the aforementioned left-wing entities that existed in previous versions and recommended that a full investigation — not a preliminary investigation — be approved.’

Based on Smith’s scope memo, Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, wrote that the Thibault-Pilger investigation was included in the special counsel’s jurisdiction.

They also pointed out that Smith had a prior relationship with Pilger. Smith was in charge of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Unit while Pilger was in charge of the Election Crimes Branch.

Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, began sounding the alarm that Special Counsel Jack Smith was ‘overseeing an investigation that was allegedly defective in its initial steps and an investigation which his former subordinate [Pilger] was involved in opening.’ 

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022. 

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ’s public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government’s investigation into the matter. 

Smith also was tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Grassley, during the confirmation hearing on Thursday, said he is requesting ‘the production of all records on this matter to better understand the full fact pattern and whether other records exist.’ 

The FBI declined to comment. 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
President Trump’s foreign policy playbook has our friends and foes equally rattled
next post
Super Bowl ads beckon up to $8 million apiece for Fox

related articles

Musk jokes about reconsidering stance on Big Beautiful...

June 7, 2025

Musk deletes explosive posts about Trump and Epstein...

June 7, 2025

House witness flips script on Dem who ambushed...

June 7, 2025

Trump’s conservative allies warn Congress faces critical ‘test’...

June 7, 2025

Call with China’s Xi, and Trump-Musk exchange fueled...

June 7, 2025

TIMELINE: Inside the evolving relationship between Trump and...

June 7, 2025

Deadly drone wars are already here and the...

June 7, 2025

FLASHBACK: Musk accused Trump, GOP leaders of not...

June 7, 2025

‘Right down the line’: Medicaid reform in ‘big,...

June 7, 2025

TSA tells Americans their Costco cards won’t fly...

June 7, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • ‘Rings hollow’: Biden ripped for warning of oligarchy ‘taking shape’ in US despite deep ties to billionaires

    January 16, 2025
  • DNC kicks off in Chicago to nominate Harris-Walz as anti-Israel protesters prepare counter-rally

    August 19, 2024
  • Trump team ‘confident’ Senate Republicans will approve cabinet selections

    November 21, 2024
  • Cozy ties between top Newsom ally and CCP official unearthed on networking site: ‘She helped me a lot’

    March 12, 2025
  • Senate passes annual defense policy bill with transgender care restrictions and pay boost for junior troops

    December 18, 2024

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 3

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 4

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (4,861)
  • Investing (624)
  • Stock (790)

Latest Posts

  • YARDEN GONEN: Thank you, President Trump, for rescuing my sister from Hamas

    January 29, 2025
  • National security advisor says Putin, Zelenskyy agree ‘only President Trump could get them to the table’

    February 16, 2025
  • Home sale commissions are getting a shake-up this weekend

    August 18, 2024

Recent Posts

  • Musk says he hopes for ‘zero tariffs,’ freedom of trade zone between US and Europe

    April 6, 2025
  • The Dogecoin is moving below 0.12800 this morning

    July 30, 2024
  • Senate GOP pushes Trump budget framework through after marathon vote series

    April 5, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • Senate unanimously passes bill bolstering presidential candidates’ Secret Service protection

    September 24, 2024
  • United Airlines adds Thailand, Vietnam and Australia flights in latest expansion

    April 2, 2025
  • ‘Independent-minded’: DCCC chair reveals blueprint for winning back majority during 2026 midterms

    December 24, 2024
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock