The American people have long trusted that their government will respect the Constitution and protect the freedoms it guarantees. But new revelations suggest that during the years after the 2020 election, that trust may have been deeply violated. According to FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, former special counsel Jack Smith oversaw the monitoring of private phone calls and messages of nearly a dozen Republican senators. This was all part of Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to lawfully challenge the 2020 election results.
This kind of government surveillance raises serious concerns about civil liberties, abuse of power, and the politicization of law enforcement. Senators Lindsey Graham, Josh Hawley, Tommy Tuberville, and Marsha Blackburn were among those targeted. These senators were not criminals—they were elected representatives, using legal and constitutional means to raise concerns about the election. Yet their private communications were being watched by the FBI under a probe known as “Arctic Frost.”
It’s important to understand what this means. These senators were discussing legal objections to the certification of the 2020 electoral votes. That process is spelled out in the Constitution. Members of Congress have the right to raise objections, and they did so in public, on the House and Senate floors. For the FBI to secretly monitor their private calls turns a legal debate into a criminal investigation. That’s dangerous in any republic.
More troubling is the fact that Smith’s investigation didn’t stop with lawmakers. Conservative organizations like Turning Point USA, which focuses on free speech and student activism, were also targeted. That suggests a wider effort to silence or intimidate people who challenged the political narrative coming out of Washington at the time.
All of this happened under the leadership of then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed Smith in 2022. Smith’s probe led to a superseding indictment of President Trump in August 2024, despite the Supreme Court ruling just one month earlier that Trump had immunity for official actions taken while in office. That indictment was later dropped after Trump won the 2024 election, defeating Kamala Harris. But the damage had already been done. The investigation had been used to cast a shadow over a sitting president and those who supported him.
This isn’t just about politics. It’s about the rule of law and the future of American democracy. When the government uses its power to spy on lawmakers and political opponents, it crosses a line. It sends a message that dissent is dangerous and may be punished. That’s more like something we’d expect from authoritarian regimes, not the United States of America.
The implications for national security are also serious. If foreign adversaries see that our intelligence agencies can be turned against our own people for political reasons, they may feel emboldened to do the same—or worse, to exploit our internal divisions. Trust between the American people and their government is a critical part of our national strength. When that trust is broken, we become weaker in the eyes of the world.
Deputy Director Bongino was right to call this a disgrace. But he also said, “That era is over.” With new leadership in Washington and a renewed focus on accountability, Americans have a chance to restore the rule of law and prevent these abuses from happening again.
Congress must act. There needs to be a full investigation into how and why these surveillance actions were taken. Laws must be strengthened to protect the privacy of lawmakers and citizens alike. And Americans must remain vigilant, because freedom is not something we can take for granted.
In the end, this isn’t just about the past—it’s about what kind of country we want to be going forward. The Constitution must be more than a piece of paper. It must be our guiding light, especially when the political winds shift. Let’s make sure that never changes.