WASHINGTON — The FBI took personnel action against three special agents who worked in connection with former special counsel Jack Smith's probe of Donald Trump, firing at least two, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
All three agents were previously named in documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, about "Arctic Frost," an FBI probe that was the precursor to the Smith investigation, which resulted in two federal criminal cases against Trump: one for his handling of classified documents and the other involving his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, which ended in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
One of the fired FBI employees, a combat veteran who was months away from becoming eligible for retirement, was called back to the office after having left for the day and informed of the dismissal, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. The other dismissed agent was also called back to the office after having left for the day, the person said.
Patel said Tuesday night on Fox News that some agents involved in subpoenaing the phone toll records of members of Congress had been fired, though he did not say how many.
“You’re darn right I fired those agents; you’re darn right I blew up CR-15, the public corruption squad, that led the weaponization at the Washington Field Office,” Patel said.
Contacted by NBC News Wednesday, the FBI said it "cannot comment on personnel matters."
Stacey Young, a former Justice Department lawyer who founded Justice Connection, a support network for current and former Justice Department employees, warned that the firings could have a chilling effect at the bureau.
“This administration is firing FBI agents who push back on direct orders from their superiors, while also firing agents who accepted assignments given to them in a prior administration,” Young said. “Line agents can’t do their job if they are in constant fear that any action they take could result in their termination. They deserve better.”
NBC News first reported in May that the "CR15" unit, the FBI Washington Field Office's federal corruption unit that was deeply involved in the Smith case, was folded in the spring. But the agents were not fired until Tuesday.
The firings came after Patel disclosed that the FBI in 2023 obtained phone toll records of eight U.S. senators as part of its investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss. Those toll records would show only phone numbers dialed and the lengths of the calls, not their content. Some Republicans, including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have falsely said toll records mean the FBI “tapped” the senators’ phones.
There had already been some public indication that the government had tried to obtain toll records of some of Trump's Republican allies in the investigation. The Smith report notes that his team consulted with the Public Integrity Section and followed the Justice Department's Justice Manual.
“None of this should be a surprise to people,” said a person familiar with the probe, noting that Smith's report mentions toll records were part of the investigation. "They followed Justice Department policy and obtained the approvals necessary before they took any steps."
Smith's report, which was issued in January, said Trump tried to reach two senators by phone on Jan. 6, 2021, and directed an unidentified co-conspirator to call members of Congress to encourage them to further delay certification of his election loss. Those calls happened around the time Trump tweeted a video telling rioters to go home and repeated his claim that the election was stolen.
The Smith report found that Trump "inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence" on Jan. 6 and knowingly spread an objectively false narrative about election fraud in the 2020 election. Smith wrote that he believed Trump would have been convicted had he not been elected to the presidency.
CORRECTION (Oct. 8, 2025, 5:06 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the number of FBI agents who were fired. The FBI fired at least two agents and took personnel action against a third; it did not fire three agents.
