FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the bureau terminated several agents involved in a domestic surveillance operation targeting at least ten Republican congress members to “fortify” the 2020 election.
The Republican senators, all Trump allies, had their phone activity monitored due to their potential support for election objections over Joe Biden’s reported victory.
The FBI also disbanded its political corruption unit after revelations that the Biden administration secretly monitored the Republican senators’ private communications, Patel stated.
The dismissed agents were supporting former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations.
“We are cleansing a corrupted institution built over three decades — identifying the corruption, removing those who politicized law enforcement, and restoring the FBI’s integrity,” Patel declared. “I promised reform, and I will deliver.”
Patel stressed that accountability is now “non-negotiable.”
“Transparency matters, and accountability is essential,” he posted on X. “We fired employees, eliminated the weaponized CR-15 squad, and launched an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures to come.”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino supported Patel’s statement, posting: “We promised transparency and accountability. We will keep delivering. You deserve better.”
The CR-15 squad, based at the FBI’s Washington Field Office, was the public corruption division long handling sensitive political investigations. Per NBC News and Fox, it also aided Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe, which examined communications tied to January 6, 2021.
This week’s shocking revelation came from internal documents showing Smith’s team tracked private phone calls and communications of at least nine Republican senators and one House member.
Those reportedly monitored included Senators Lindsey Graham (SC), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Ron Johnson (WI), Josh Hawley (MO), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bill Hagerty (TN), Dan Sullivan (AK), Tommy Tuberville (AL), and Rep. Mike Kelly (PA).
The document, titled “CAST Assistance” and dated September 27, 2023, names the lawmakers and identifies an FBI special agent tasked with conducting a “preliminary toll analysis” — reviewing phone records and communication metadata — linked to their numbers.
The “CAST” reference denotes the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, a specialized unit trained to map digital networks and trace phone traffic. The document’s case ID is marked “ARCTIC FROST — Election Law Matters — SENSITIVE.”
Trump, reacting on Truth Social, slammed Smith: “Deranged Jack Smith got caught red-handed. A total sleazebag!!!”
Smith, who previously led DOJ prosecutions of Trump over January 6 and classified documents, has not yet publicly addressed the revelations.
Sources close to Patel’s investigation say the FBI’s internal watchdog has initiated multiple disciplinary cases related to the surveillance. Patel reportedly learned of the “Arctic Frost” records earlier this month and ordered an internal audit.
“This was a rogue operation,” a senior bureau official stated. “It was blatant political spying. That’s why CR-15 is gone.”
Patel, a former Trump national security official and House Intelligence Committee investigator, vowed upon taking office that the FBI would “never again be used as a political weapon.”
“We are restoring an FBI that serves the Constitution, not political masters,” Patel said Tuesday. “Every American — Republican, Democrat, or Independent — deserves equal protection under the law.”
Legal experts anticipate congressional hearings in the coming weeks as Republicans push to subpoena remaining CR-15 officials and demand full disclosure of how GOP lawmakers’ data was obtained.
“This is worse than Watergate,” Sen. Hawley told reporters. “Spying on Congress members for a political agenda — that’s a constitutional crisis.”
The FBI’s internal investigation continues, but Patel warned that more firings are forthcoming.
“The housecleaning has just started,” he said. “The American people will see everything.”
