The FBI has dismissed several employees and disbanded its CR-15 squad just a day after disclosures that the private communications and phone records of multiple Republican lawmakers had been tracked during the Biden administration.
The CR-15 squad, part of the FBI’s Washington Field Office public corruption unit, had assisted former special counsel Jack Smith in his investigation of President Trump.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the actions on Tuesday, calling the surveillance “baseless monitoring” and pledging further reforms.
“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 those who do not meet the standards of this mission while restoring integrity to the FBI. I promised reform, and I intend to deliver it,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News.
Patel also addressed the moves on X, writing, “Transparency is important, and accountability is critical. We promised both, and this is what promises kept looks like… We terminated employees, we abolished the weaponized CR-15 squad, and we initiated an ongoing investigation with more accountability measures ahead.”
Smith’s “Arctic Frost” team probing Jan. 6 allegedly tracked the phone records of GOP Sens. Graham, Blackburn, Johnson, Hawley, Lummis, Hagerty, Sullivan, Tuberville, and Rep. Kelly. The Sept. 27, 2023 “CAST Assistance” document, found by Patel, cites the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team under case ID “ARCTIC FROST—Election Law Matters.”
