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The messages showed that F.B.I. investigators took normal bureaucratic steps and precautions when opening an extraordinarily sensitive inquiry into Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Jan. 30, 2025, 2:13 p.m. ET
A series of internal F.B.I. emails released on Thursday showed that agents and officials followed standard procedure nearly three years ago when they opened the historic criminal investigation into Donald J. Trump’s attempts to stay in power after he lost the 2020 election.
The emails were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee in the middle of a contentious hearing for the nominee for F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, at which Republicans sought to paint the F.B.I. as a politicized agency that improperly went after targets like Mr. Trump.
But in fact, the emails showed that F.B.I. investigators took normal bureaucratic steps and precautions when opening the extraordinarily sensitive inquiry into Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the election using slates of electors pledged to him in states he had actually lost.
The emails also revealed the names of several F.B.I. agents and bureau officials who worked on the Trump investigation. It is rare for the F.B.I. or the Justice Department to disclose the names of specific agents working on cases — particularly at a time when public servants are facing rampant threats.
One of the emails, dated March 22, 2022, contained a formal request by F.B.I. agents to open the investigation into Mr. Trump, which was code-named “Arctic Frost.” That request, which was made public for the first time by the committee, asserted that the inquiry should be started based on evidence, including statements made by three lawyers — John Eastman, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Boris Epshteyn — all of whom played a role in the fake electors scheme.
That scheme was arguably the longest-running and the most expansive of the multiple efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the election. Evidence about it was ultimately used by the special counsel, Jack Smith, in the indictment he filed in August 2023 accusing Mr. Trump of three intersecting conspiracies to disrupt the lawful transfer of power to his opponent in the 2020 race, Joseph R. Biden Jr.
