On November 4, 2025, a political firestorm erupted in Washington, D.C., as two major controversies involving the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI—one spanning administrations—came to light. In a single day, Americans learned of the abrupt closure of the federal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s network of co-conspirators and the unprecedented seizure and subpoena of former President Donald Trump’s phones and call records as part of the Arctic Frost investigation. The revelations, coming from both congressional leaders and the Attorney General herself, have left lawmakers, survivors, and the public demanding answers—and wondering just how far the power of the Justice Department extends.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, set the tone early in the day by releasing a letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi. In it, Raskin demanded to know why the Trump DOJ had terminated a criminal investigation into the co-conspirators of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, a move that, according to Raskin, shielded a powerful network from accountability for their roles in a sprawling sex trafficking operation. As reported by the House Judiciary Committee, nearly 50 survivors had provided the FBI and prosecutors with detailed information about at least 20 men they identified as enablers or participants in Epstein’s crimes. These women, Raskin wrote, “shared with the DOJ and FBI the specific identities of many of these co-conspirators, how this operation was structured and financed, and which individuals facilitated these crimes.”
Until January 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York was actively investigating these leads. Survivors and federal prosecutors, often meeting multiple times and documenting their accounts in official FBI Form 302s, believed they were contributing to a robust case. But, as Raskin’s letter revealed, the investigation was suddenly derailed when SDNY prosecutors were ordered to transfer all Epstein case files to DOJ headquarters in Washington, D.C. Neither the survivors nor the SDNY team knew this move was intended to terminate the case. After the transfer, efforts to pursue the leads ceased entirely. By July 2025, the DOJ and FBI formally closed the case, issuing a memo that, without supporting detail, claimed they “did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.”
The decision has left many, including the survivors and their advocates, frustrated and dismayed. Raskin’s letter, citing counsel for some of the survivors, underscored the sense of betrayal: “Any effort to pursue these credible leads appears to have been completely halted when Trump came into office.” The abrupt closure not only rejected the courage of the women who came forward but, as Raskin argued, “shielded a network of powerful individuals accused of enabling and engaging in the massive billion-dollar sex trafficking operation.”
Further inflaming tensions, FBI Director Kash Patel, during a Judiciary Committee hearing in September, undermined the credibility of the very survivors whose testimony had previously helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell. This apparent reversal by the DOJ—first relying on these women to secure a conviction, then disregarding their accounts—has prompted Raskin and the Judiciary Committee to consider reforms to the Crime Victims Rights Act. Such reforms, Raskin indicated, would be shaped by the information he has now formally requested from the DOJ regarding its handling of the Epstein investigation.
While the fallout from the Epstein case was still reverberating, Attorney General Pam Bondi herself ignited a separate controversy by revealing explosive details about the Biden Administration’s DOJ. In a post on X, Bondi disclosed that the DOJ, under President Joe Biden, had seized former President Trump’s official government-issued phone from his first term and subpoenaed all of his personal phone records. This, she said, was part of the so-called Arctic Frost investigation, which probed Trump’s and his allies’ efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election.
Bondi’s post was unequivocal: “The Biden Administration turned over President Trump’s phone to Special Counsel—an UNPRECEDENTED action. In addition, Special Counsel subpoenaed all of President Trump’s PERSONAL phone records. We can never again allow this kind of government weaponization in America.” The Attorney General did not specify which phone company was subpoenaed or whether it complied, but the implication was clear: the government’s reach into the private communications of a former president had crossed a new line.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed this sentiment at a press briefing, calling the actions “further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against then former president and now President Donald J Trump.” Leavitt added, “It was a clear effort by the Biden White House and the Biden DOJ to go after the president, and this is just further evidence of that.”
The Arctic Frost investigation, which began in 2022, focused on whether Trump and his associates attempted to overturn the 2020 election through a “false electors scheme.” The probe intensified after the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, examining Trump’s actions and communications during the critical period between the election and the certification of Joe Biden’s victory. Special Counsel Jack Smith, leading the investigation, issued subpoenas for the call records of at least eight Republican senators, one GOP representative, and, as revealed Tuesday, a ninth senator—Rick Scott of Florida. According to The Center Square, the investigation ultimately involved subpoenas for at least 430 named Republican individuals or entities.
Smith’s efforts resulted in a four-count indictment against Trump in August 2023, charging him with conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding. However, the case was dismissed in November 2024 after Trump won a second non-consecutive term, a legal twist that has only added to the controversy. The call records, according to The New York Post, were sought to analyze Trump’s actions and communications during the tumultuous period surrounding the Capitol riot.
The revelations about Arctic Frost have become a rallying point for Republican lawmakers. At a press conference, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida declared, “This is way bigger than Watergate,” while Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin warned that additional members of Congress may have been surveilled. “The subpoenas we are getting right now are just phone numbers. I call Rick Scott a fair amount, so I recognized his phone number,” Johnson explained, suggesting that the full scope of the surveillance is still emerging.
As these two scandals unfold in tandem, they reveal a Justice Department under intense scrutiny from both sides of the political aisle. On one hand, survivors of Epstein’s crimes and their advocates are demanding answers for why a major sex trafficking investigation was abruptly shut down. On the other, Trump and his supporters are decrying what they see as unprecedented and politically motivated overreach by the DOJ and FBI. Both stories, though distinct, center on a fundamental question: Who holds the power to investigate, and who gets to decide when justice is served?
With lawmakers promising further hearings and reforms, and with survivors and political figures alike seeking accountability, the coming months are sure to bring even more revelations. For now, the nation watches as the highest levels of law enforcement face questions that cut to the heart of American democracy and justice.
