Josh Hawley Called Out The FBI. Corporate Media Buried The Lede
"Arctic Frost" Is Merely The Latest Reminder The FBI Is Weaponized Against Americans
Once again, corporate media manages to live down to its justly deserved reputation as pedestrian propagandists.
When Josh Hawley sounded off over the FBI spying on US senators, Politico could only carp that he claimed the FBI “tapped” his phone, rather than “merely” logging who he called and for how long.
This was how Politico reported on Hawley’s remarks in committee:
Sen. Josh Hawley falsely claimed Tuesday that newly disclosed records revealed that the FBI “tapped” the phones of eight sitting U.S. senators during special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of President Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election.
Hawley was describing an FBI document, publicly released Monday by Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, that referenced a “preliminary toll analysis” of nine lawmakers. Grassley underscored that the records revealed a subset of calls made and received by those lawmakers and did not reveal the content of those calls — only the time and duration.
In other words, the FBI was taking careful notes about who Senator Hawley contacted, how often he was in communication with them, and how long the conversations were. Nothing authoritarian or corrupt about that at all!
Across the pond, the The Independent dismissed the surveillance as a “common investigative tactic.”
Pulling phone records is a common investigative tactic, and those “toll” records include what numbers were called and when and for how long. They do not include the contents of messages or conversations, which would require a court-approved wiretap.
Of course, the FBI using a “common investigative tactic” on someone means that the FBI is investigating that someone. No matter how the media wants to spin it, the FBI spied on Senator Hawley.
That is what one does when a person’s phone calls are under surveillance—one spies on that person.
The FBI spied on Republican Senators.
Why did the FBI spy on them? Politico declines to give an answer, although it gratuitously implies that it was because of J6.
It’s unclear why the FBI reviewed the phone records of the particular set of senators included on the list. Though some, like Hawley, were deeply engaged in efforts to block the certification of Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election, others appeared less involved.
The Independent was no more illuminating as to the catalyst for the surveillance.
It’s unclear why the FBI sought those records, but agents were pulling data from the days immediately before and after January 6, 2021, when Trump and his allies were scrambling to derail a joint session of Congress to formally certify Biden’s election.
What both Politico and The Independent left out was that Josh Hawley brought receipts that the FBI was doing much, much more than just noting who called whom.
Senator Josh Hawley: I’ve been listening closely in this hearing, and I’ve heard over and over from my Democrat colleagues concerns about targeting political enemies, and they’ve accused you of all manner of things and the current president.
I’ve also heard them said, and I just wrote it down because I wanted to be sure I heard it correctly. I’ve heard them say that Joe Biden never targeted his political enemies. Joe Biden never directed his attorney general to target his political opponents.
Huh.
That’s interesting because I could have sworn that yesterday we learned that the FBI tapped my phone. Let’s look at it.
We’ve got a list. Tapped my phone, tapped Lindsey Graham’s phone, tapped Marsha Blackburn’s phone, tapped five other phones of United States senators.
Gee, it sure looks like targeting political opponents to me, and yet I haven’t heard a word from that side of the dais about any concern whatsoever. We’ve got nothing but concerns today, but no concern at all for a Justice Department that is tapping the phones of sitting United States senators because who knows why?
They don’t like them.
They’re members of the opposition party.
They’re Republicans.
They’re conservatives.
You’ve seen this document, Attorney General Bondi. What was going on here? Who ordered this? Who ordered the tapping of the phones of United States senators?
Attorney General Pam Bondi: Senator Hawley, I cannot discuss the details of that right now for very good reasons.
Hawley: You’re going to do a thorough investigation into this, I trust. Is that correct?
Bondi: We will be looking at all aspects of this. And I have talked to director Patel at length.
Hawley: And you’re going to figure out who was involved in this, who signed off on it, who knew about it. You’re going to get to the bottom of all of it. Is it correct?
Bondi: Yes, and I’ve spoken to Director Patel about it, and he is committed to doing this.
Hawley: Well, I can tell you, we already know many of the details. We already know that this was ordered by the special prosecutor, Jack Smith, who reported directly to the Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland.
And we know that Jack Smith was on his witch hunt because he was directed to do so by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. Let’s just remember. Let’s take a walk down memory lane.
April 2nd, 2022, the New York Times. Garland faces growing pressure. The Times says as recently as late last year, that would have been 2021, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle he believed former President Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted. It goes on to say that Garland, that Biden rather, was frustrated with Garland and wanted him to take decisive action against Trump.
Here’s what we’re talking about. Trump, of course, was a private citizen at the time. So he appoints his own hitman, Jack Smith, who goes after the president, former president, who goes after members of this body.
You know, the thing about it, though, that really strikes me is, is that it didn’t stop with members of the United States Senate. It didn’t stop here at all. I mean, just as egregious, maybe more so than tapping the phones of U.S. senators, is this memo that I know you’ve seen before. Let’s just look at it again.
This is an FBI memo from the same time period, I might add, from the same time period, in which the Federal Bureau of Investigation attempts to recruit informants into Catholic parishes in this country. So here you have an administration that is activating the FBI against its political opponents and tapping the phones of United States senators.
Can I just say that again for my colleagues, for the benefit of my colleagues on the other side of the dais? Tapping the phones of United States senators. This isn’t hypothetical. This isn’t maybe what will you do in the future. This isn’t, oh gee, can we imagine the situation?
This happened. This happened. And this happened, the targeting of Catholics in this country because Joe Biden and his FBI didn’t like Catholics who went to a certain kind of mass. I mean, good God in heaven, what is happening to this country? What happened under Joe Biden?
Or then how about this? The infamous school board memo. Where Merrick Garland, at the direction of the White House, issued a memo activating the FBI’s counterterrorism division against parents who attended school board meetings and had the temerity to ask what their kids were being taught. And some of those parents were treated like this.
Let’s just remember. Let’s remember how parents were treated. Treated like this man. A parent at a school board meeting, I think in Virginia, who was drug out of the school board meeting. He’s bloodied there. You can see it.
And what was the response of Joe Biden’s DOJ and FBI? It was to issue a memorandum saying that people like this ought to be investigated by the counter-terrorism unit. And unbelievably, they were. They were.
Or how about this? Let’s remember Mark Houck and the pro-lifers who were prosecuted for what? For going to a clinic, an abortion clinic, and praying on a sidewalk outside an abortion clinic. This is Mark Houck and his beautiful family at Mass. This man, at the direction of Joe Biden’s FBI, this man had an FBI SWAT team come to his door in the early morning hours with his beautiful children there, terrorizing them with weapons drawn. He was then arrested and prosecuted. Fortunately, a jury acquitted him.
This is what was happening under Joe Biden. United States senators spied upon. Former presidents, the political opponents of the president at the time, targeted, prosecuted. Pro-lifers targeted, prosecuted. Catholics targeted, prosecuted. 92 conservative organizations put under surveillance targeted for potential prosecution. Gee, I don’t know, would you call that an example of weaponization, Attorney General Bondi? Do you think that’s a fair characterization?
As AG Bondi went on to respond, yes, what Hawley outlined was unequivocally the weaponization of the FBI, using the FBI for political persecution rather than criminal investigation.
The FBI spied on US Senators, and Josh Hawley gave chapter and verse.
The FBI spied on US citizens, and Josh Hawley gave chapter and verse.
The FBI spied on conservative organizations, and Josh Hawley gave chapter and verse.
The Democrats want to pretend that none of this happened.
Corporate media wants to pretend that none of this happened.
They both want you to believe that none of this happened.
Yet it happened.
It has been happening.
It has been happening at least since the start of “Russiagate” during President Trump’s first term, a hoax which in the end collapsed into a mud-puddle of fake news and conspiracy theories.
It has been happening, and corporate media has been a willing participant in it, aiding and abetting the FBI both during the Biden Administration and afterwards.
“Arctic Frost” is not the first evidence the Biden Administration turned the American criminal justice system on anyone the Biden Administration just didn’t like, for whatever reason. “Arctic Frost” is not the first evidence corporate media has tried to either cover up or gaslight the American people over.
“Arctic Frost” is merely the latest proof that the Biden Administration was the clear and unequivocal enemy of the American people.
Corporate media would rather you not know about that.
When I was a kid, this was the kind of government behavior that existed in the Soviet Union, not in the U.S. We were appalled that this KGB kind of evil was in the world. Five years ago, I would not have believed this could be flourishing in America. Now I - along with tens of millions of other U.S. citizens - see how bad it’s become, and how it must be fixed NOW.
Having just read Kash Patel’s book (“Government Gangsters”, from 2023), I am encouraged by Patel’s thorough knowledge of the FBI corruption, and of his determination to remedy it. He is a patriotic zealot who is putting his own life on the line, as tackling deep-state corruption is not for the faint-hearted. Thank God for the Trump administration who is backing his brave efforts!
And thank God for you, Peter, for bringing the truth to light, and for never backing down. Your noble efforts are deeply appreciated!
And yet, I have doubts that anything will happen. Oh, an investigation is likely, but what will result from it? Indictments? Prosecutions? Convictions? Or is it more likely that maybe a minor player will take the fall and Smith and Garland will be allowed to blithely go about their lives?