Cyprium Metals (CYM:AU) has announced Senior Loan Facility Refinanced with Nebari
Download the PDF here.
Cyprium Metals (CYM:AU) has announced Senior Loan Facility Refinanced with Nebari
Download the PDF here.
Mid-tier precious metals producer Americas Gold and Silver (TSX:USA,NYSEAMERICAN:USAS) continues to grow its North American footprint with its intended acquisition of privately owned Crescent Silver.
The two companies inked a US$65 million binding purchase agreement on Thursday (November 13). It includes the past-producing, fully permitted Crescent mine in the Idaho Silver Valley.
Known as “the silver capital of the world,” the region is well known for its immense production of silver, lead and zinc, as well as significant amounts of copper and antimony.
Within this prolific mining district, the Crescent mine is sandwiched between the historic Sunshine and Bunker Hill mines and is just 9 miles from Americas’ Galena complex, an active silver, lead and copper operation.
“The mineralized material at Crescent is the same silver-copper-antimony tetrahedrite material currently processed at Galena,” notes the company’s press release.
The deal comes just one week after the US Geological Survey officially added silver to its list of critical minerals in recognition of the metal’s growing importance to American economic and national security.
Substantial infrastructure is already in place at Crescent, which has a historic 2015 preliminary economic assessment demonstrating the potential to produce 1.4 million to 1.6 million ounces of silver annually.
“Crescent has the potential to be fast tracked into our growing production profile alongside Galena, allowing us to leverage our strong operations team located in the Silver Valley,” said Americas Chair and CEO Paul Andre Huet.
Management believes the company can begin adding feed from Crescent to the Galena mill and generating cashflow from these activities as early as mid-2026. Americas’ team sees plenty of upside on the Crescent property as less than 5 percent of the landholding has been explored, with only two veins delineated for production. In 2026, the company plans to launch a US$3.5 million drill program to test multiple targets both at surface and underground.
The Crescent acquisition includes US$20 million in cash alongside approximately 11.1 million common shares of an equity position in Americas valued at approximately US$45 million.
To cover the cost of the purchase, Americas initially announced it would be conducting a concurrent US$65 million bought-deal private placement via an agreement with Canaccord Genuity and BMO Capital Markets.
Shortly after that news, the company said it was increasing that private placement to US$115 million on strong investor interest. Eric Sprott, Americas’ largest shareholder, will participate in the financing.
“The addition of the Crescent Mine, while potentially improving the project profile of the Company, provides additional synergies only available through rational consolidation and is a transaction that leverages the strength of Paul’s strong operating team in the Silver Valley,” said Sprott, a well-known financier in the mining industry.
Earlier in the week, Americas Gold & Silver published its financial and operational results for Q3. Its consolidated silver production was up 98 percent year-on-year and 11 percent quarter-on-quarter, while its consolidated revenue, including by-product revenue, jumped by 37 percent compared to the same quarter last year to US$30.6 million.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
As its record-setting year continues, gold is on its way to posting its strongest annual performance since 1979, up an impressive 58 percent year-to-date as of Wednesday (November 12).
The yellow metal once again broke past US$4,200 per ounce this week, moving closer to its all-time high of US$4,379.13, reached on October 17. Silver is up 80 percent year-to-date and also on track for its best year ever.
The silver spot price rose on Thursday (November 13) morning to just a few cents shy of its record price of US$54.47 per ounce. Silver futures hit a new record high of US$54.415 per ounce in early morning trading.
Gold rallied this week even amid news that the longest US government shutdown in history was coming to an end — typically the sort of development that would lessen demand for safe-haven assets. Yet continued labor market weakness in the US is priming expectations of further Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in December.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, explained that gold is gaining on investor sentiment.
What does it mean to say that gold is acting like a meme stock? Basically, it implies that the gold market is displaying unusual trading dynamics with investment demand at times seemingly more momentum-driven than data-driven.
Gold and silver’s surge may be reflective of the good precious metals vibes investors are now feeling. Social media is buzzing with posts like “GOLD to $5,000!” and trending hashtags like #GoldRush2025 and #SilverSqueeze2.
Gold exchange-traded funds in particular are very popular with retail investors. Sherwood News reported on Tuesday (November 11) that daily call volumes for the SPDR Gold Trust (ARCA:GLD), which is backed by physical gold, had outstripped 1 million by 1:10 p.m. EST, ‘roughly triple their 334,000 average over the last 10 full sessions.’
While the speed and size of the price gains in gold and silver point to a highly sentiment-driven acceleration, this momentum doesn’t discount the strong fundamentals for gold and silver.
Yes, we’re likely to see price pullbacks, but the overall upward momentum is still supported by macro forces such as economic uncertainty, Fed independence concerns, geopolitical risks and in the case of silver, supply worries.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Copper Quest Exploration Inc. (CSE: CQX; OTCQB: IMIMF; FRA: 3MX) (‘ Copper Quest ‘ or the ‘ Company ‘) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an arms-length Option to Purchase Agreement (the ‘ Agreement ‘) dated November 7th, 2025 with 0847114 B.C. Ltd. (‘ Privco ‘), a British Columbia Incorporated company that holds 100% ownership, title, and interest in the Alpine Gold Property (the ‘ Property ‘), located in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia (the ‘ Acquisition ‘).
Highlights of the Alpine Gold Property
The 4,611.49-hectare Property is approximately 20 kilometers northeast of the City of Nelson (Figure 1) and hosts the former operating underground mine with a recorded production of approximately 16,810 tonnes of mineralized vein material (Table 1). This material contained 356,360 grams of gold, 222,054 grams of silver, 49,329 kilograms of lead and 17,167 kilograms of zinc. The other 4 significant vein systems on the property will also be explored including the Black Prince and Cold Blow quartz veins approximately 3km to the northeast of the Alpine mine, the Gold Crown vein system 600m southeast, and the past-producing King Solomon vein workings 1.8km to the south. Further information about the Alpine Gold property will be forthcoming in the upcoming weeks.
Brian Thurston, President & CEO of Copper Quest, commented : ‘ With Gold prices at all-time highs, The Alpine Gold property creates a tremendous opportunity to create near term value. I look forward to closing the transaction and welcoming Mr. Matovich, Mr. Muraro and Mr. Mirko to the team.’
Figure 1: Location Claim Map
Appointment of Mr. Allan Matovich as Director
Copper Quest is also pleased to announce that upon closing of the acquisition, Mr. Allan Matovich will join the Company’s Board of Directors. Mr. Matovich is the principal owner of the Alpine Gold Property.
Mr. Matovich has 60+ years of mining and exploration experience in Canada and the United States. He first started with Cominco in Trail BC working in the smelter operation. Mr. Matovich then started Matovich Mining Industries where they supplied considerable tonnages of siliceous flux materials, lead and zinc concentrates to Cominco for over 20 years. Mr. Matovich then opened up a mining operation in 1997 in Northern British Columbia to supply barite for drilling fluids in the oil and gas industry. This mining operation is still in production today. Mr. Matovich also opened up a barite operation in Washington State that is going into production. He also worked with Halliburton, Baker Hughes, and Newmont and was very successful. In 2000, Mr. Matovich purchased the Alpine Gold Mine and since then has spent a considerable amount of time proving up the project.
Mr. Matovich commented ‘ I am very pleased to bring the Alpine Gold Property to Copper Quest and join as a director. The company has a fantastic portfolio of critical mineral projects advancing and the Alpine Gold Project gives a potential near term cash flow opportunity along with upside to grow the current resource with drilling. I look forward to working with the Copper Quest team to help create value for all stakeholders involved.’
Table 1 – Production History – Minfile (082FNW127) for Alpine Mine for gold (Au) and silver (Ag)
| YEAR | Tonnes | Tonnes | Au Grams | Ag Grams | Est Grade |
Est Grade |
| Mined | Milled | Recovered | Recovered | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | |
| 1988 | 200 | 90 | 198 | 591 | 2.20 | 6.57 |
| *1948 | – | – | 16,889 | 11,384 | 25.32 | 17.07 |
| *1947 | – | – | 2,768 | 1,866 | 15.38 | 10.37 |
| *1946 | – | – | 11,042 | 5,785 | 18.59 | 9.74 |
| *1942 | – | – | 56,079 | 34,182 | 824.69 | 502.68 |
| 1941 | 11,517 | 11,517 | 219,350 | 130,011 | 18.26 | 11.29 |
| 1940 | 3,992 | 3,992 | 57,852 | 35,333 | 14.49 | 8.85 |
| 1939 | 3 | 0 | 62 | 62 | ||
| 1938 | 35 | 0 | 1,120 | 902 | ||
| 1915 | 4 | 0 | 1,938 | |||
| *ore milled not reported | ||||||
Appointment of Mr. Ted Muraro as Technical Advisor to the Board
Mr. Muraro will be appointed as Technical Advisor to the board on closing of the transaction. Mr. Theodore (Ted) W. Muraro has accumulated over six decades of experience in mineral exploration, including 35 years with Cominco where he advanced through Exploration to serve as the companies Chief Geologist and Internal Consulting Geologist. Early in his career, Mr. Muraro gained underground experience at Keno Hill, HB Mine, Sullivan, and Western Mines. His tenure at Cominco was marked by direct involvement in the discovery and subsequent successful development of the Westmin Mine at Buttle Lake, the Polaris Mine on Little Cornwallis Island in the high Arctic, and Snip Mine on the Iskut River. Following his service at Cominco, Mr. Muraro assumed the role of Vice President, Exploration at Romanex and International Barytex Resources, contributing his expertise to international gold projects.
Mr. Muraro, who was awarded the Spud Huestis award in 2021 for his outstanding contributions to the industry and excellence in exploration, worked as an independent consultant (T.W. Muraro Consulting 1993-2016) on base metal and gold exploration projects around the world until his retirement in 2016. In these later years, he served on several boards as Director and/or Advisor, most recently with Imperial Metals. Mr. Muraro’s working relationship with Al Matovich started in the Rossland Mining Camp and shifted to the Alpine Property in the late 80’s.
Appointment of Mr. John Mirko as Technical Advisor to the Board.
Mr. Mirko will be appointed as Technical Advisor to the board on closing of the transaction. Mr. Mirko has over 40 years’ experience in the mining industry, past President and Founder of Canam Alpine Ventures Ltd. (recently sold to Vizsla Resources Ltd.), currently President and Founder of Canam Mining Corp. and Rokmaster Resources Corporation.
From 1986 to 2010 Mr. Mirko the founder, President-CEO and Director of 4 public mining-exploration companies and a founder and Director of 3 others. He has been self-employed in the sector since 1972 as a prospector, contractor and consultant involved in exploration, development and mine construction of various projects in 12 counties, and commercial production of mineral concentrates and metal products from 5 of the projects.
In 2008, Mr. Mirko was a recipient of the ‘E. A. Scholtz Medal for Excellence in Mine Development’ from the Association for Mineral Exploration of British Columbia, and in 2009, the Mining Association of British Columbia’s ‘Mining and Sustainability Award’ for the MAX Mine.
Mr. Mirko is currently a member in good standing of the Society of Economic Geologists, Inc., the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and AME BC.
Transaction Details
The Agreement provides for the purchase of all the minerals claims and crown grants held by the Privco that make up the Alpine Gold Property. At closing Copper Quest will issue 14,177,517 Copper Quest common shares to Privco at a deemed price of $0.175c per share. The Shares will have a 24-month escrow agreement from closing date.
Additionally, Copper Quest will reimburse $225,000 towards the 2025 expenditures of the Property that was completed earlier this year and a 2 percent NSR will be granted to Privco on closing of the Acquisition with half being able to be bought back for CAD$1-million.
Closing is subject to a 45-day due diligence period, exchange approval and other customary closing conditions. Closing may occur prior to the 45-day due diligence period. A finder’s fee is payable in common shares in connection with the transaction.
Qualified Person
Brian Thurston, P.Geo., the Company’s President, CEO and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects , has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.
Gold: Global Demand & Supply
Global demand for gold remains strong, supported by persistent geopolitical uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and ongoing central bank purchases. At the same time, supply growth is limited, with declining reserves at mature mines, few large-scale discoveries, and rising development costs. This tightening supply backdrop highlights the strategic value of advancing new gold projects in secure, mining-friendly jurisdictions. Copper Quest is aligned with these global trends, positioning Alpine to contribute to the next generation of significant gold discoveries.
Stock Options
The Company has granted stock options to Directors, Management, and Consultants of the Company to acquire an aggregate of 2,600,000 common shares in the capital of the Company, pursuant to the Company’s Equity Incentive Plan. The stock options are each convertible into a common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0. 20 until November 13, 2030.
About Copper Quest Exploration Inc.
Copper Quest ( CSE: CQX; OTCQB: IMIMF; FRA: 3MX ) is focused on building shareholder value through strategic acquisitions and the exploration and development of its North American Critical Mineral portfolio of assets. The Company’s land package currently comprises five critical mineral projects that span over 40,000+ hectares in great mining jurisdictions.
Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the Stars Property, a porphyry copper-molybdenum discovery, covering 9,693 hectares in central British Columbia’s Bulkley Porphyry Belt. Contiguous to the Stars Property, Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the 5,389-hectare Stellar Property. CQX also has an earn-in option up to 80% and joint-venture agreement on the 4,700-hectare porphyry copper-molybdenum RIP Project, also in the Bulkley Porphyry Belt.
Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the Nekash Copper-Gold Project, a porphyry exploration opportunity located in Lemhi County, Idaho, along the prolific Idaho-Montana porphyry copper belt that hosts world-class systems such as Butte and CUMO. The project is fully road-accessible via maintained U.S. highways and forest service roads and currently consists of 70 unpatented federal lode claims covering 585 hectares.
Copper Quest has a 100% interest in the Thane Project located in the Quesnel Terrane of Northern BC which spans over 20,658 ha with 10 high-priority targets identified demonstrating significant copper and precious metal mineralization potential.
Copper Quest’s leadership and advisory teams are senior mining industry executives who have a wealth of technical and capital markets experience and a strong track record of discovering, financing, developing, and operating mining projects on a global scale. Copper Quest is committed to sustainable and responsible business activities in line with industry best practices, supportive of all stakeholders, including the local communities in which it operates. For more information on Copper Quest, please visit the Company’s website at Copper Quest .
On behalf of the Board of Copper Quest Exploration Inc.
Brian Thurston, P.Geo.
Chief Executive Officer and Director
Tel: 778-949-1829
For further information contact:
Investor Relations
info@copper.quest
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains certain ‘forward-looking information’ and ‘forward-looking statements’ (collectively, ‘ forward-looking statements ‘) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, future operations and activities of Copper Quest, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as ‘expects’, ‘anticipates’, ‘believes’, ‘intends’, ‘estimates’, ‘potential’, ‘possible’, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘could’, or ‘should’ occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation, risks associated with possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, risks associated with the interpretation of exploration results, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company’s exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company’s business and prospects. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these items. The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by applicable securities laws.
The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3309c0ba-17fd-4a57-b498-e8a3c49534fc
News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia
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.
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.’
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.