A senior federal court administrator is now reportedly defending Chief Judge James Boasberg’s decision to authorize gag orders that concealed subpoenas issued during the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation — the same probe that Special Counsel Jack Smith used to build his now-collapsed election case against President Donald Trump. But the official insists Boasberg likely had no idea the subpoenas targeted sitting members of Congress.
The explanation came from Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Director Robert Conrad Jr. in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. Grassley, along with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), is demanding answers about why Boasberg approved year-long gag orders preventing telecom companies from informing Republican lawmakers that Smith had secretly subpoenaed their phone records in 2023.
Conrad said he could not directly address the sealed subpoenas but outlined standard procedures that were in place during Arctic Frost. He explained that the Justice Department typically sends judges nondisclosure order requests that do not reveal the identities of the individuals being surveilled.
“DOJ’s requests for gag orders typically do not attach the related subpoena; rather they identify the subject accounts only by a signifier — e.g., a phone number,” Conrad wrote. That means judges would have no way of knowing if the phone number belonged to a Democrat, a Republican, or a sitting member of Congress.
Grassley blasted the DOJ for exploiting that loophole, saying Smith’s prosecutors intentionally withheld critical information from the court. He noted that DOJ’s Public Integrity Section warned Smith’s team about constitutional concerns under the Speech or Debate Clause — yet Smith moved ahead with the subpoenas anyway.
“Smith went ahead with the congressional subpoenas anyway, and it appears he and his team didn’t apprise the court of member involvement,” Grassley said. “Smith’s apparent lack of candor is deeply troubling, and he needs to answer for his conduct.”
The DOJ only updated its policy in 2024 — months after the subpoenas — requiring prosecutors to notify courts when they seek gag orders against members of Congress. Smith’s team took advantage of the pre-existing rules to keep lawmakers completely in the dark.
Now, those lawmakers — roughly a dozen House and Senate Republicans — are furious. The subpoenas targeted call logs and communication metadata as part of Smith’s investigation into efforts to challenge the 2020 election. While content of calls was not obtained, lawmakers say the Biden DOJ weaponized the intelligence apparatus to spy on political opponents and used Boasberg’s blanket gag orders to hide it.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of the most outspoken critics, was scheduled to lead a hearing Wednesday exploring grounds for impeachment — a rare step usually reserved for bribery or corruption. Johnson said Boasberg’s latest explanation is nowhere near sufficient.
“Judge Boasberg’s refusal to answer questions from Congress about his approval of unlawful gag orders is an affront to transparency,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “He must lift the seal and provide a full explanation for his actions.”
Smith, for his part, continues to insist the subpoenas were proper and in line with department policy — even as critics say the entire Arctic Frost operation exposed yet another example of the Biden-era DOJ’s political targeting of Trump allies.
The fight over the hidden subpoenas, gag orders, and the court’s role in them is now set to intensify on Capitol Hill — with Republican lawmakers demanding far more transparency than they believe they’ve received so far.
[READ MORE: Costco Sues Biden Administration Over Trump-Era Tariffs, Citing Supreme Court Doubts About Legality]
