Des Moines Sun

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has responded to questions from Ranking Member Dick Durbin and other Democrats on the committee about oversight of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Arctic Frost investigation.

Grassley criticized what he described as a lack of support from Democrats for his previous oversight efforts. "Many of my Democratic colleagues failed to speak up when for four years the Biden administration obstructed my oversight and retaliated against my whistleblowers," Grassley wrote. "Indeed, when I was last Ranking Member of this Committee, for two years I raised concerns about the Biden DOJ and FBI thumbing their nose at my oversight requests. Other than a single short phone call scheduled by you with Attorney General Garland, which proved useless, nothing was done. Here, just this year, I, and my staff, have personally intervened in several Democratic oversight requests, doing more than what was ever done for my office."

Grassley outlined instances where he said Democrats did not join Republican efforts related to oversight when they held the majority. He noted that his investigation into then-Special Counsel Jack Smith began in 2022. Addressing ongoing committee work on Arctic Frost, Grassley stated: "As my Republican colleagues and I made clear before the American people on October 29, 2025, bipartisan hearings will come in time. But we also made clear that we will not hold a hearing until we are in possession of all relevant documents from the FBI and DOJ. I have also written to Jack Smith stating my willingness to host a hearing when we receive and review all relevant records. In that letter, I asked Jack Smith questions which he has thus far failed to answer."

He further pointed out Democrats’ lack of support for declassifying certain documents such as the Clinton Annex and Durham Annex, criticism faced during investigations into the Biden family’s activities—labelled by some as “Russian disinformation”—and absence of support for whistleblowers under the Biden administration.

"The Biden DOJ literally ignored hundreds of my oversight requests. Instead, I relied on whistleblowers to advance my investigative work. Whistleblowers who were retaliated against by the Biden administration, and my Democratic colleagues didn’t lift a finger to help… [W]histleblowers have said that the Biden DOJ and FBI retaliated against employees for making legally protected whistleblower disclosures or because their political beliefs didn’t align with the Biden administration. Some of [the personnel terminated by the Trump administration] retaliated against my whistleblowers and ruined their lives."

Grassley concluded his remarks by expressing commitment to bipartisan government oversight: "Your side had your chance to run your investigations and do your oversight for the past two Congresses. After my multi-year oversight requests, that never received any assistance from your side, are fulfilled, I will attempt to assist in nonpolitical, legitimate oversight requests from my Democratic colleagues. I remain fully committed to bipartisan, good faith efforts to root out waste, fraud, and abuse within government and doing bipartisan oversight as evidenced by our joint work this year. I hope you and your colleagues will join me in my ongoing efforts," Grassley wrote.