Several weeks into the government shutdown, the notion of reopening seemed impossible. 

Both Senate Republicans and Democrats were deeply entrenched in their positions for 41 days and 40 nights, and neither side wanted to appear to be caving to the other. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and his caucus wanted a guaranteed deal on expiring Obamacare subsidies, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., argued that the government needed to reopen first. 

But an explosion of bipartisan talks, pushed by external pressures of federal workers going unpaid, federal food benefits in jeopardy, and air travel grinding to a standstill, invigorated a working group of senators to build an off-ramp out of the historic closure.

The result was a bipartisan deal that included a trio of spending bills meant to jump-start the government funding process, an extension of the original House-passed continuing resolution (CR) to Jan. 30, 2026, to provide time to fund the government the old-fashioned way, and a renewed guarantee that Senate Democrats would get their vote on expiring Obamacare subsidies. 

In the end, the shutdown dragged on for 43 days, with the climactic vote to end it and send the package to the White House unfolding in the House on Wednesday. 

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., who was part of crafting the final spending deal, said discussions on those three bills had begun ‘long before’ the shutdown. 

‘We certainly had some knotty issues, a hemp issue, disagreements on funding levels and all that. But for the most part, we worked those through. And I would tell you from our side and I would assume from the other, the three big players were the Cardinals themselves,’ Cole said, referring to the three House Republican subcommittee chairs who led discussions on the three individual bills.

‘Our Democratic colleagues that voted against the bills had plenty of input in the bills. The real question will be in the next package — can you guys bring any votes? If you’re not going to bring any votes, our negotiation will be a waste of time, and we’ll be required to construct a coalition that’s all Republican.’ 

Nevertheless, most of the eight Senate Democrats that crossed the aisle viewed the guarantee of a vote on Obamacare as the turning point, though it lacked the guaranteed outcome that Schumer and the majority of the caucus sought. 

‘There was no vote that we were going to get on the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits,’ Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said on Sunday, referring to Obamacare. ‘We have a guaranteed vote by a guaranteed date on a bill that we will write, not that the Republicans will write.’

For Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who proved the decisive Democratic vote that sealed the deal on the proposal in the Senate, it was provisions that would rehire and protect workers fired by the Trump administration. 

Kaine recalled that it was just hours before the Senate was set to take a key test vote on the CR that he changed his mind. Up to that point, the White House had not wanted to include language that would have reversed the reductions in force (RIFs) that had been ordered at the start of the shutdown. 

But it was through Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who was a key negotiator in the Senate, that Kaine got the White House on board. 

‘I said, I’m a no if you don’t do that, I’m a no, and you know that it was 4:45 p.m. in the afternoon on Sunday when they told me they would do that,’ he said.

Kaine noted that with 320,000 federal workers in Virginia and 2 million nationally, he recognized it was a big ask. 

‘And I told her, and when I explained it to her, she said, that’s a reasonable ask, but that the White House didn’t want to do it,’ he said. ‘And she was a little bit of a go-between and helping me.’

Homeownership has long been part of the American dream, but that dream has been deferred.

Households in their 30s have an ownership rate of just 42% — more than 20 points lower than the national average.

The median age of all home buyers is a record-breaking 59, and the age of a first-time buyer is 40 — up from 29 in 1981.

As a solution, the Trump administration is floating a 50-year mortgage.

Though I disagree with that specific idea, I am heartened that they are brainstorming ways to tackle the problem.

We need a Marshall Plan for housing, a collection of broad initiatives to make homes more affordable and put the dream back on track.

The federal government can use its bully pulpit to get changes to red tape and regulations that are holding back building, and encourage policies that would increase housing and decrease costs.

To start, the White House and Fannie Mae should instead promote shorter, 20-year mortgages.

As Ed Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute has argued, a 20-year loan can be paid off ‘when the 30-year-term loan leaves most homeowners saddled with another decade or more of mortgage payments, the cash flow freed up from a paid-off shorter-term loan is available to fund a child’s post-secondary-education needs and later turbocharge one’s own retirement.’

The 20-year loan could be incentivized with a first-time buyer tax credit.

The decline in homeownership is a problem that must be addressed federally and locally.

This would be especially important today when the vast majority of taxpayers no longer itemize their tax returns — which means they cannot avail themselves of the deduction for mortgage interest.

That deduction always favored wealthy buyers of high-end homes anyway — so a targeted tax credit would help those who actually need it far more.

It’s time, as well, for the Trump White House to roll back one of the key initiatives of Elizabeth Warren’s pet project, the Consumer Protection Financial Agency.

The CPFC has pressured banks to limit mortgages to ‘plain vanilla’ mortgages, premised on its rules or what consumers can afford.

Adjustable rate loans and other ‘mortgage products’ can be right for some buyers — who should have a choice of how much risk they want to take in exchange for getting into the home market.

Even a low down payment might be hard to come up with, however, for those who can’t take advantage of generous in-laws.

Those without rich parents might turn to a ‘housing saving account’ — akin to the popular health savings accounts initiated by George W. Bush and which hold some $59 billion and are sheltered from taxation.

The new housing accounts should be tailored only for down payments, however — not long-term maintenance and other homeowner needs.

Buyers also are allowed today to take out $10,000 from their 401(k) penalty-free to go to a downpayment on a home.

Perhaps it’s time to raise that ceiling.

Of course, it goes almost without saying that even the most creative financing and incentives will fall short of addressing our housing needs without the most important problem: Supply.

There are many reasons why there aren’t enough starter homes.

Regulation in many cities makes construction difficult.

More retiring Boomers own second homes.

Banks have increasingly bought real estate as an investment and drive up prices.

Low turnover is another reason Gen X buyers have so much trouble breaking into the market.

During COVID, mortgage rates hit record lows and many refinanced.

These owners have a strong incentive not to trade a 3% mortgage for a new home and a much-higher rate.

Another key reason: more and more of us are living in small households or even alone.

The Census Bureau reports that, between 2019 and 2021, the number of households increased by more than 2 million a year.

That means we not only need more housing but more types of housing — many smaller units especially, rather than the two-acre, one house lots common in so many suburbs.

Here is where the limits of Washington’s hard power is reached.

Much of US housing policy is set at the hyper-local level, by planning boards and zoning boards.

That’s why outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams deserves so much credit for his ‘City of Yes’ rezoning in New York, which will permit safe basement apartments and ‘accessory dwelling units’ in parts of the city.

Accessory units — or ‘granny flats’ — can also be the means for older couples to sell the homes to younger households and downsize.

As part of a federal push, though, the Marshall Plan for Housing could encourage these same changes nationwide: Changing zoning to allow more housing; or taking undeveloped state land and providing tax incentives to build on them.

It’s the 18,000 municipalities across the country that are often standing in the way of what might be called naturally occurring affordable housing — small homes on small lots, like those of the original Levittown, where houses were just 750 square feet of living space.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner should urge localities to permit private, unsubsidized, small homes and apartment buildings, or what AEI’s Pinto terms ‘light-touch density.’

It’s far more likely to gain local approval than the subsidized, low-income housing Democrats have long favored, starting with the public housing the socialist Zohran Mamdani wants to revive.

Private building is also less costly; new housing units in California subsidized through the low income housing tax credit can cost upwards of $800,000 per units, a bonanza for developers but not many tenants.

Building costs for any housing, however, will inevitably go up as a result of another Trump policy: his 10% tariff on plentiful Canadian lumber and timber products and a 25% tariff on kitchen cabinets and furniture.

The de facto taxes are causing what the National Association of Home Builders calls ‘headwinds’ holding back new construction.

As a builder himself, he should rethink these tariffs.

Homeownership is a virtuous conspiracy making the nation better.

Owners are more likely to maintain neighborhoods than renters, more likely to improve schools and services by getting involved in local government — the essence of American federalism.

The decline in homeownership is a problem that must be addressed federally and locally.

But the Trump administration can take the lead, with tax breaks and the encouragement of construction.

The president can bring the dream alive again.

For months, headlines warned of an impending famine in Gaza — images of starving children, shattered infrastructure and humanitarian collapse filled the news. On Aug. 22, 2025, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared that while full data was lacking, expert inference indicated famine was underway. Governments pledged aid; humanitarian agencies sounded alarms. Yet today, the word ‘famine’ has nearly vanished from headlines. What happened?

This is not to deny the human suffering in Gaza; it is to ask difficult, necessary questions. Was famine averted, exaggerated or politically reframed?

Famine has been described as a tree swaying in the wind — at some point it cannot recover and cannot be returned upright. But Gaza’s ‘famine tree’ never appeared to fully sway. If aid efforts or local resilience truly prevented catastrophe, where is the evidence? On August 22, 2025, famine was declared, and the global press carried that narrative. Then came a shift to the word ‘starvation.’ Now, even that language has faded.

The distinction matters. Famine is a technical classification grounded in data — household food security surveys, acute malnutrition rates and mortality. Starvation, by contrast, is a moral and legal term implying intent; under international law, using starvation as a weapon constitutes a war crime. In Gaza, this rhetorical shift occurred before comprehensive data was gathered — an escalation of accusation without empirical foundation.

Recovery from famine typically takes eight to 12 months, even under ideal conditions with full humanitarian access and functioning medical systems. Historical precedents — Somalia in 2011, South Sudan in 2017 and Sudan in 2023 — show that malnutrition persists long after headlines fade. If Gaza truly met famine standards this summer, the signs would still be unmistakable: rising mortality, overwhelmed clinics and a generation of weakened children. Yet no such surge has been confirmed by independent medical reporting.

Another inconsistency is behavioral. True famine unleashes chaos — hunger overrides social norms and people fight to survive. In August, 84% of Gaza aid convoys were reportedly looted. Yet after the Oct. 10 ceasefire, U.N. 2720 data show interceptions fell to 6%, and by November, below 1%. Where did the desperation go? Where is the looting? Where are the crowds of thousands?

Following the ceasefire, Hamas rapidly reasserted control, executing accused defectors and projecting an image of order. Recent videos show bustling markets and calm streets — a façade of normalcy meant to reinforce legitimacy. Within six weeks, famine conditions seemingly vanished. Can that be real?

If famine had truly taken hold, it would not have dissipated so quickly. Either the crisis was overstated, the data manipulated or public perception deliberately managed.

We cannot shy away from uncomfortable questions. Asking what happened to the famine in Gaza is responsible, not callous. Truth demands transparency, even when it challenges narratives we’ve grown accustomed to believing.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Daniel Rogers, during a rare public appearance Thursday, said nearly one in 10 of the agency’s terrorism investigations include at least one person under the age of 18, marking an alarming trend driven by online extremism.

Since 2014, there have been nearly two dozen violent extremist attacks in Canada resulting in 29 deaths, and at least 60 victims injured, according to Rogers.

Worryingly, he said, nearly one in ten terrorism investigations at CSIS, the country’s domestic spy agency, include at least one ‘subject of investigation’ under the age of 18.

In August, a minor was arrested in Montreal for allegedly planning an attack on behalf of Daesh, according to Rogers.

Just a few months prior, a 15-year-old Edmonton area minor was charged with a terrorism-related offense, as Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigators feared they would commit serious violence related to COM/764, a transnational violent online network that manipulates children and youth across widely accessible online platforms.

Rogers also noted two 15-year-olds were arrested in Ottawa for allegedly conspiring to conduct a mass casualty attack targeting the Jewish community in Canada’s capital in late 2023 and early 2024.

‘Clearly, radicalized youth can cause the same harms as radicalized adults, but the societal supports for youth may help us catch radicalization early and prevent it,’ Rogers said. ‘These tragic numbers would have been higher if not for disruptive actions taken by CSIS and our law enforcement partners.’

The CSIS joined the RCMP and intelligence partners from the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in releasing a joint public report in December, highlighting the evolving issue of young people and violent extremism. 

The report provides advice to parents, guardians and others with information to help them identify early concerns and address youth radicalization before it’s too late. 

‘Since 2022, CSIS has been involved in the disruption of no fewer than 24 violent extremist actions, each resulting in arrests or terrorism peace bond charges,’ Rogers said. ‘In 2024, CSIS played an integral role in the disruption of two Daesh-inspired plots. In one case, a father and son were allegedly in the advanced stages of planning an attack in the Toronto area. In another, an individual was arrested before allegedly attempting to illegally enter the United States to attack members of the Jewish community in New York. In these examples, and in many others, I can’t discuss publicly, our counter-terrorism teams have partnered with law enforcement and saved lives.’

He attributed the radicalization to ‘eroding social cohesion, increasing polarization, and significant global events,’ which he said ‘provide fertile ground for radicalization.’

‘Many who turn to violence radicalize exclusively online—often without direction from others,’ Rogers said. ‘They use technology to do so secretly and anonymously, seriously challenging the ability of our investigators to keep pace and to identify and prevent acts of violence.’

Rogers also noted the CSIS collects intelligence and defends against transnational repression, previously focusing on transnational repression by the People’s Republic of China, India and others. 

‘In particularly alarming cases over the last year, we’ve had to reprioritize our operations to counter the actions of Iranian intelligence services and their proxies who have targeted individuals they perceive as threats to their regime,’ he said. ‘In more than one case, this involved detecting, investigating, and disrupting potentially lethal threats against individuals in Canada.’

Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action ‘destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s. 

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ probe.

According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the ‘toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)’

The information was included as part of a ‘significant case notification’ drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

‘It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,’ Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. ‘Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.’

Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021.

‘They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,’ he said. ‘It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.’

But Gohmert said it is the ‘principle.’

‘It is the separation of powers that is the problem,’ Gohmert explained. ‘People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.’

‘You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,’ Gohmert said. ‘There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.’

Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that ‘the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.’ 

He added: ‘It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership.

‘I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,’ he said. ‘We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.’ 

Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith. 

‘Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,’ McCarthy told Fox News Digital. ‘It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.’ 

‘His illegal targeting demands real accountability,’ McCarthy continued. ‘And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.’ 

‘At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,’ McCarthy said. 

The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his ‘Arctic Frost’ team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. 

Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records ‘entirely proper’ and consistent with Justice Department policy.

‘As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,’ Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. 

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that ‘Arctic Frost’ is a ‘prohibited case,’ and that the review required FBI officials to go ‘above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.’ The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. 

Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump has opened a probe into Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., over alleged mortgage fraud, Fox News has confirmed.

In response, Swalwell said he was not surprised to be targeted by Trump and vowed to keep speaking out while pursuing his lawsuit.

‘As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me,’ the California lawmaker said.

‘Like James Comey and John Bolton, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook, Letitia James and the dozens more to come – I refuse to live in fear in what was once the freest country in the world.

‘Of course, I will not end my lawsuit against him. And I will not stop speaking out against the President and speaking up for Californians,’ he continued. ‘As Mark Twain said, ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.’ Mr. President, do better. Be better.’

The probe, which was first reported by NBC, will investigate allegations of millions of dollars in loans and refinancing were based on Swalwell declaring that his primary residence was in Washington, D.C., a person familiar with the referral told the news organization.

According to the report, the director of the Federal Housing Agency, Bill Pulte, sent Attorney General Pam Bondi a letter on Wednesday accusing Swalwell of possibly making false or misleading statements on loan documents.

The source also reportedly told NBC the investigation is into possible mortgage fraud, tax fraud at the state and local level, insurance fraud and any related crimes.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on the matter.

Swalwell has been one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, and last month he faced scrutiny over a ‘bizarre inconsistency’ in his campaign’s Federal Election Commission filings that list several different reasons for payments to a Haitian American staffer totaling more than $360,000.

FEC filings from Swalwell for Congress and his Remedy PAC, dating back to 2021, show more than 75 payments to staffer Darly Meyer, ranging from $53 to more than $12,000 for various reasons.

Meyer received 27 payments last year totaling more than $120,000 and is on pace to earn a similar amount in 2025. The filings list multiple explanations for the disbursements, including travel, car and security services, and salary, as well as reimbursements for personal travel expenses, event flowers, and postage.

Over the years, Swalwell’s campaign has reported numerous expenditures on luxury car services, expensive restaurants, and high-end hotels in international cities such as Dubai, Berlin, Paris and London.

Swalwell also claimed there was strong evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump, but those claims were contradicted by when we.

Durham’s report, released in 2023, found intelligence agencies lacked ‘actual evidence of collusion’ to justify launching the Trump-Russia probe. The findings echoed Robert Mueller’s 2019 report, which found no criminal conspiracy between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Former Rep. Louie Gohmert blasted ex-Special Counsel Jack Smith for allegedly targeting his personal phone records as part of his investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riots, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that his action ‘destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Fox News Digital exclusively reported Thursday morning that Smith targeted then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s personal, private phone records, as well as Gohmert’s. 

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the explosive revelations. Grassley and Johnson have been leading a joint investigation into Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ probe.

According to the document, Smith, on Jan. 24, 2023, allegedly sought the ‘toll records for the personal cell phones of U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (AT&T) and U.S. Representative Louie Gohmert (Verizon.)’

The information was included as part of a ‘significant case notification’ drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

‘It is astounding that Jack ‘Frost’ Smith went on this persecution,’ Gohmert told Fox News Digital Thursday. ‘Apparently, this guy has never read the Fourth Amendment because you have to describe with particularity what it is you’re going after — there should be probable cause, and they had no probable cause. They were going on a witch hunt.’

Smith had sought Gohmert’s personal cellphone records from November 2020 through the end of January 2021.

‘They don’t have any regard for the Fourth Amendment,’ he said. ‘It makes Watergate look like school yard folly.’

But Gohmert said it is the ‘principle.’

‘It is the separation of powers that is the problem,’ Gohmert explained. ‘People and whistleblowers contacted me regularly from within the DOJ and the FBI about overreach within the FBI and DOJ. By grabbing my records, they could stifle reporting of potential crimes by people within the agencies.’

‘You can’t just go seize members of Congress’ records even with a warrant because of that separation of powers,’ Gohmert said. ‘There has to be a wall and that’s what troubles me more than anything.’

Gohmert told Fox News Digital that he didn’t remember who he spoke with during the time period Smith sought records, but said that ‘the last thing I want is for someone who trusted me to keep their name private to have some jack-booted thug like Jack ‘Frost’ Smith grab my records and find out who is tattle tailing on him.’ 

He added: ‘It violates and destroys the checks and balances that the founders counted on.’

Gohmert, though, told Fox News Digital that he trusts the current Justice Department and FBI leadership.

‘I trust the DOJ and trust the people running the FBI,’ he said. ‘We’ll see if there were any crimes committed and, if following the Constitution, they can be properly prosecuted.’ 

Meanwhile, McCarthy said he will take legal action against Smith. 

‘Jack Smith’s radical and deranged investigation was never about finding the truth,’ McCarthy told Fox News Digital. ‘It was a blatant weaponizing of the Justice Department to attack political opponents of the Biden administration. Perhaps no action underscores this point more than the illegal attempt to access the phone records of sitting members of the House and Senate — including the Speaker of the House.’ 

‘His illegal targeting demands real accountability,’ McCarthy continued. ‘And I am confident Congress will hold hearings and access documents in its investigation into Jack Smith’s own abuses.’ 

‘At the same time, I will ask my own counsel to pursue all areas of redress so this does not happen to anyone else,’ McCarthy said. 

The revelations come after Fox News Digital exclusively reported in October that Smith and his ‘Arctic Frost’ team investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots were tracking the private communications and phone calls of nearly a dozen Republican senators as part of the probe, including Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama and GOP Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania.

An official told Fox News Digital that those records were collected in 2023 by Smith and his team after subpoenaing major telephone providers. 

Smith has called his decision to subpoena and track Republican lawmakers’ phone records ‘entirely proper’ and consistent with Justice Department policy.

‘As described by various Senators, the toll data collection was narrowly tailored and limited to the four days from January 4, 2021 to January 7, 2021, with a focus on telephonic activity during the period immediately surrounding the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol,’ Smith’s lawyers wrote in October to Grassley.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., have been investigating the matter. 

An FBI official told Fox News Digital that ‘Arctic Frost’ is a ‘prohibited case,’ and that the review required FBI officials to go ‘above and beyond in order to deliver on this promise of transparency.’ The discovery is part of a broader ongoing review, Fox News Digital has learned.

Smith, after months of investigating, charged President Donald Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Smith’s case cost taxpayers more than $50 million. 

Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith met with then-FBI Director Christopher Wray months after he began investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots and the 2020 election, Fox News Digital has learned.

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the document that FBI Director Kash Patel recently shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson containing the new development.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Johnson, R-Wis., are currently reviewing the documents as part of their joint investigation into Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ probe.

The information was included as part of a ‘significant case notification’ drafted by the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division May 25, 2023.

‘On 5/24/2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith met with FBI Director Wray,’ the document reads.

The meeting took place just a day before the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division created the ‘Significant Case Notification’ document.

An FBI ‘significant case notification’ is an internal record used by the bureau to alert senior leadership and FBI field offices about a case of high public interest. This notification provided a case update on ‘Arctic Frost,’ which the bureau considered a ‘sensitive investigative matter.’ 

‘Jack Smith claims he wants to tell his story to Congress, but when I asked him point-blank if he ever met with Garland, Monaco, or Wray as part of his investigation, he refused to answer,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital.

The revelations are significant, as Grassley, in October, sent a letter that specifically asked Smith whether he had met with Wray, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, then-Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco or then-FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.

Smith replied to Grassley, but declined to share information about any of his meetings with those officials.

‘Either Smith has a bad memory, or he’s simply not willing to come clean about his actions,’ Grassley told Fox News Digital, adding that if Smith ‘really wanted the American people to hear the truth, he’d be cooperating with my straightforward congressional oversight requests instead of making excuses.’

‘I’m going to continue investigating to ensure the public gets full transparency,’ Grassley said.

Smith, in October requested to testify in open, public hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

‘Given the many mischaracterizations of Mr. Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents and role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Mr. Smith respectfully requests the opportunity to testify in open hearings before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees,’ Smith attorneys Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski wrote.

Smith did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was hospitalized on Thursday after he fell near his home in Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for the senator said.

‘During an early morning walk, Senator Fetterman sustained a fall near his home in Braddock. Out of an abundance of caution, he was transported to a hospital in Pittsburgh,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Upon evaluation, it was established he had a ventricular fibrillation flare-up that led to Senator Fetterman feeling light-headed, falling to the ground and hitting his face with minor injuries.’

The spokesperson added that Fetterman is currently ‘doing well and receiving routine observation at the hospital.’ The spokesperson also shared a statement from Fetterman, in which the senator jokes about the incident.

‘If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!’ Fetterman said.

Fetterman was choosing to stay at the hospital so that doctors could adjust his medication treatment, according to the spokesperson.

Fetterman has battled health issues in the past, the most high-profile being a somewhat debilitating stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign.

Fetterman has made headlines recently over breaking with the majority of Democrats during the government shutdown, voting to reopen the federal government.

This is a developing news story; check back for updates.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that an individual attempted to confront Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba on Wednesday night, ‘destroyed property in her office’ and then ‘fled the scene.’

‘Thankfully, Alina is ok,’ Bondi added. ‘Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period. This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country.’

‘We will find this person, and the individual will be brought to justice. Our federal prosecutors, agents, and law-enforcement partners put their lives on the line every day to protect the American people, and this Department will use every legal tool available to ensure their safety and hold violent offenders fully accountable,’ Bondi also said.

Habba said following the incident that, ‘I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job.’

The Justice Department, on its website, said, ‘As Acting U.S. Attorney and Special Attorney to the United States Attorney General,’ Habba ‘is responsible for overseeing all federal criminal prosecutions and the litigation of all civil matters in New Jersey in which the federal government has an interest. 

‘Including the offices in Newark, Camden, and Trenton, Ms. Habba supervises a staff of approximately 155 federal prosecutors and approximately 130 support personnel,’ according to the Justice Department.

Further details about the attack were not immediately available.