{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/10/sen-rick-scott-urges-doj-investigation-into-biden-s-unlawful-arctic-frost-witch-hunt-targeting-sen-scott-republican-colleagues", "Sen. Rick Scott Urges DOJ Investigation into Biden\u2019s Unlawful Arctic Frost Witch Hunt Targeting Sen. Scott & Republican Colleagues", "2025-10-31", "2025", "2025-10", "Republican", "Senate", "FL", "Rick Scott", "S001217", "www.rickscott.senate.gov", "rickscott", "https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/press-releases/", "page_html", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, following news that he was among several Republicans targeted by Biden\u2019s Department of Justice (DOJ) Arctic Frost witch hunt investigation, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for a full investigation into this gross abuse of power by the Biden DOJ\u2019s unlawful spying on Republican lawmakers and weaponization.\n\nRead the full letter HERE or below:\n\nDear Attorney General Bondi:\n\nAs you are already aware, recent disclosures have revealed that the Biden administration spied on Republican members of Congress during its \u201cArctic Frost\u201d investigation by, among other things, subpoenaing their phone records. Yesterday, I learned that my own cell phone records were subpoenaed, and that Jack Smith and Judge James Boasberg prohibited my phone carrier from notifying me.\n\nThe Biden administration\u2019s secretive surveillance of Congress not only represents a violent assault on our constitutional separation of powers, but it also appears to be in clear violation of federal law. 2 U.S.C. \u00a7 6628 states that \u201cany provider for a Senate office . . . shall not be barred, through operation of any court order or any statutory provision, from notifying the Senate office of any legal process seeking disclosure of Senate data.\u201d And \u201cSenate office\u201d is defined broadly in the statute to \u201cinclud[e] a Senator\u201d and even one of his interns.\n\nOn November 18, 2022, just three days after Donald Trump announced his 2024 campaign against then-President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith to investigate Biden\u2019s chief political rival. As part of this blatant political prosecution, Smith asked Judge Boasberg, an Obama appointee, to issue subpoenas to telecommunication companies for the cell phone records of Republican members of Congress, including me. This was part of a series of hundreds of subpoenas that targeted over 400 Republicans and, to this day, no legal predicate has been offered for this astonishing abuse of power.\n\nThis invasion of privacy directly assaulted Congress\u2019s core Article I functions protected by the Speech and Debate Clause. Additionally, it represented prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. Indeed, when granting these subpoena requests, Judge Boasberg ordered the telecom companies to conceal the subpoenas from the targeted senators. In doing so, Smith and Judge Boasberg appear to have violated Section 6628. They should be held accountable.\n\nI am therefore joining my Republican colleagues in urging you to thoroughly investigate this matter, and to promptly refer the findings to the appropriate state bar associations to begin disbarment proceedings against Jack Smith. I also ask that you provide your findings to Congress so that we can assess whether to begin impeachment proceedings against Judge Boasberg.\n\nI am no stranger to political weaponization of the government. Biden\u2019s IRS wrongfully released my tax records, and President Bill Clinton\u2019s DOJ targeted me for going against Hillarycare. This type of corruption will not stop unless those responsible have been held fully accountable.\n\nThank you in advance for your attention to this troubling matter.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-03-30T11:08:25Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.rickscott.senate.gov/2025/10/sen-rick-scott-urges-doj-investigation-into-biden-s-unlawful-arctic-frost-witch-hunt-targeting-sen-scott-republican-colleagues"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.031750114634633, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}