FBI Director Kash Patel has revealed that the bureau has fired multiple agents who were implicated in a domestic spying operation that targeted at least ten Republican congress members in an effort to “fortify” the 2020 election.
The Republican senators, all of them Trump supporters, had their phone activity monitored because they were expected to potentially support the election objections over Joe Biden’s reported victory in the election.
The FBI also dismantled its political corruption unit shortly after revelations surfaced that the Republican senators’ private communications were secretly monitored by the Biden administration, Director Patel said.
The fired agents were assisting the investigations of former Special Counsel Jack Smith.
“We are cleaning up a diseased temple three decades in the making — identifying the rot, removing those who weaponized law enforcement for political purposes, and restoring integrity to the FBI,” Patel said in a statement. “I promised reform, and I intend to deliver it.”
Patel emphasized that accountability was now “non-negotiable.”
“Transparency is important, and accountability is critical,” he wrote on X. “We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.”
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino echoed Patel’s words in a post of his own: “We promised you transparency and accountability. We will continue to deliver on those promises. You deserve better.”
The CR-15 squad, based at the FBI’s Washington Field Office, was the public corruption division long involved in politically sensitive investigations. According to NBC News and Fox, it also supported Jack Smith’s “Arctic Frost” probe — an internal operation that examined communications linked to the events of Jan. 6, 2021.
This week’s bombshell revelation came from internal documents that indicated that Smith’s team had 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, lists the lawmakers by name and identifies an FBI special agent assigned to conduct a “preliminary toll analysis” — a review of phone records and communication metadata — connected to their numbers.
The “CAST” reference stands for the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, a specialized division trained to map out digital networks and trace phone traffic. The document’s case ID is marked “ARCTIC FROST — Election Law Matters — SENSITIVE.”
Trump, reacting on Truth Social, blasted Smith: “Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!”
Smith, who previously led the DOJ’s prosecutions of Trump over January 6 and classified documents, has not yet commented publicly on the revelations.
Sources familiar with Patel’s investigation say the FBI’s internal watchdog has opened multiple disciplinary cases tied to the surveillance activity. Patel reportedly learned of the “Arctic Frost” records earlier this month and ordered an internal audit.
“This was a rogue operation,” one senior bureau official said. “It was political spying, plain and simple. That’s why CR-15 is gone.”
Patel, a former Trump national security official and House Intelligence Committee investigator, vowed upon taking the helm 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 expect a series of congressional hearings in coming weeks as Republicans move 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 members of Congress to pursue a political agenda — that’s a constitutional crisis.”
The FBI’s internal probe is ongoing, but Patel made clear more firings are coming.
“The housecleaning has just begun,” he said. “The American people will see everything.”