FBI fires 2 special agents who worked on Jack Smith probe: Reports

The FBI has fired two special agents involved in former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump, according to multiple reports. 

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee released an unclassified document showing that the FBI analyzed the phone records of nine Republican members of Congress in 2023. The document, dated Sept. 27, 2023, says a bureau special agent — whose name is redacted — completed “preliminary toll analysis” of eight Republican senators and one GOP representative.

The records obtained were of the lawmakers’ communications Jan. 4-7 in 2021, covering events prior to, during and after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, the committee said in a news release. The committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), added that the data obtained shows when and to whom a call was made, the duration of the call and the location of the call. It does not include what was said on the call. 

The analysis was done as part of the bureau’s “Arctic Frost” investigation, which preceded Smith’s probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith resigned from the Justice Department prior to Trump’s inauguration, with the department releasing his full report days later.

FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News on Wednesday that agents involved in “Arctic Frost” had been fired, but he did not specify how many. NBC News also reported the FBI took action against a third agent involved in the investigation. 

The Hill has reached out to the FBI for comment. 

Patel added that the subpoenas of the phone records were placed in a “lockbox” and classified as prohibited access, a move that would have required the approval of former Attorney General Merrick Garland and former FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“We’re just scratching the surface here, but accountability’s coming. You’re darn right I fired those agents,” Patel said.