Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) threatened to sue former special counsel Jack Smith and others for their involvement in a surveillance operation against several Republican lawmakers.
During an appearance on Fox News, the lawmaker vowed to “sue the crap” out of those who participated in operation Arctic Frost, which involved FBI agents monitoring communications between Republicans and President Donald Trump under the Biden administration.
Graham, along with Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) were spied on by the FBI during former President Joe Biden’s term in office.
“I was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in January of 2021,” Graham said. “I made phone calls to a lot of people to find out what I should do as a senator regarding certifying the election — and whether or not, as chairman of the committee, we should have hearings.”
Graham continued, “And to find out that Jack Smith in 2023 — 30 months after the fact — wants to know who I called, and where they were at, and where I was at, is beyond unnerving.”
The senator asserted that “whether you like me or not, agree with my politics or not, it should bother you greatly that a United States senator — his phone records or her phone records — would be subpoenaed by the FBI 30 months later with no reason to believe I’m involved in any crime — it is really an abuse of the process.”
The lawmaker brought up the massive lawfare campaign Democrats waged against Trump after he announced that he would seek a second term in 2024.
“Within eight months, 91 indictments were levied against him, coming from New York, Atlanta, Washington D.C., and Florida. Ninety-one felony charges against Donald Trump,” Graham pointed out.
The lawmaker further stated that if Trump hadn’t decided to run again, “none of this would have happened.”
“This was all orchestrated by Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Letitia James — to destroy this man so he could not win in 2024,” he added.
Graham went on to state that “if they did this without good reason and without cause, I’m gonna sue the crap out of these people.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham vows to "sue the crap" out of former special counsel Jack Smith over surveillance scandal.
— Jeff Charles, The Armadillo Slayer🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) October 8, 2025
"If they did this without good reason and without cause, I’m gonna sue the crap out of these people." pic.twitter.com/bQzgYJOSY5
The Arctic Frost operation was launched in 2022. It was initiated by Timothy Thibault, an anti-Trumper. The Biden White House handed over government cellphones that were used by Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence during the president’s first term. Without a warrant, FBI agents extracted data as part of an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol building.
Smith and his team tracked phone communications between nearly a dozen GOP lawmakers. The FBI also surveilled the Republican Governors’ Association and conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA.
This was clearly an egregious abuse of power and one of several ways Democrats weaponized the state against their political opponents. If this is how they are willing to treat sitting senators, then how much more will the government do the same to regular people with impunity?
Hopefully, Sen. Graham will sue the crap out of these people. But they deserve even more than a lawsuit.