The Biden White House handed over government cellphones belonging to then-former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence to the FBI in May 2022 as

part of a probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election, linking Trump to the investigation without sufficient justification.

According to Fox News Digital, which first reported the finding, the FBI did not require a warrant to seize the phones from the Biden White House. However,

after obtaining the devices, agents began drafting a search warrant to access their data, sources familiar with the investigation told the outlet.

“The Biden White House played right along with the FBI’s ‘gotcha’ scheme against Trump,” a source familiar with the investigation told the outlet. “Biden’s Office of White House Counsel, under the leadership of

Dana Remus and Jonathan Su, gave its blessing and accommodation for the FBI to physically obtain Trump and Pence’s phones in early May 2022. Weeks later, the FBI began drafting a search warrant to extract the phones’ data.”

The phones were seized and entered into evidence as part of the FBI’s initial investigation into the 2020 election, which eventually was taken over by special counsel Jack Smith.

Internally known as “Arctic Frost,” the case was opened on April 13, 2022, by former FBI agent Timothy Thibault, who was known for his anti-Trump stance.