President Donald Trump hinted several times, before taking office, that he would utilize the government to seek revenge on opponents. Now, the FBI is reportedly scouring through documents and other material to find and expose individuals who investigated the president and his allies.
Under FBI Director Kash Patel, agents are looking for information that could discredit prosecutors and investigators who worked on previous cases through congressional Republicans’ disclosure requests, internal searches and whistleblowers, those familiar with the current situation told the New York Times.
Last year, Patel fired several officials who investigated the president or worked on cases associated with the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Some fired officials turned around and accused Patel of carrying out the president’s bidding in order to keep his position.
But other than public firings, the FBI has also disseminated documents that appear to reflect negatively on some of the investigations, particularly those led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, through congressional disclosures, according to the Times report.
Batches of disclosures have been released by Senator Chuck Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Many of those have been associated with “Arctic Frost” – the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election led by Smith. Anti-Smith material has often been released ahead of congressional hearings in an effort to shape the narrative, the Times reports.
Republicans have suggested more could be coming ahead of Smith’s testimony in front of a House committee this week, the outlet said.
For example, before a Judiciary Oversight committee hearing with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Grassley released information indicating the FBI, under the Biden administration, looked at Republicans’ phone metadata. Senator Josh Hawley went on further, claiming the FBI “tapping” his phone, which is incorrect.
Grassley also released FBI emails showing that some agents at the bureau’s Washington field office garnered doubts about the search of Mar-A-Lago in August 2022 for classified documents Trump took from the White House after leaving office.
The emails showed a “miscarriage of justice,” Grassley said. However, the Times reports that he neglected to mention that the agents concerned about the search eventually agreed to it, or that the FBI’s actions were scrutinized and approved by a Trump-appointed judge.
In October, Grassley released 197 subpoenas from Smiths’ team to Republicans or conservative organizations. The subpoenas were allegedly obtained through a whistleblower.
But two former prosecutors on Smith’s team were concerned that the disclosures may have contained grand jury material – typically shielded from public view. The two prosecutors filed a complaint with the DoJ’s internal Inspector General, according to the Times.
The Independent has asked Senator Grassley’s office and the DoJ Inspector General’s office for comment.
A spokesperson for Grassley told the Times that the senator had the legal authority to publish the information and that it was done so after consulting with the Senate’s legal counsel.
The information Grassley has obtained and released has all been obtained through requests. The Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs, led by Patrick Davis – a former aide to Grassley, is responsible for coordinating responses to congressional oversight requests.
The FBI declined to comment to The Independent
However, FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson told theTimes that any suggestion the bureau’s disclosures were cherry-picked was false.
“Director Patel and his leadership team have overseen the most transparent F.B.I. in history — turning over 40,000 documents to Congress in just one year, a nearly 400 percent increase over both his predecessors during their entire tenures combined,” Williamson told NYT.
“We are proud of our work with the committees of jurisdiction on the Hill and make zero apologies for opening the books of the F.B.I. for the American people.”
