OAN Staff Blake Wolf
11:18 AM – Wednesday, October 8, 2025
FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the FBI has officially dismantled a public corruption unit, known as CR-15, in addition to firing a number of agents connected to previous misconduct involving surveillance of Republican senators — outed by a recent report by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A newly obtained FBI document revealed that the agency, under the Biden administration, targeted the personal cell phones of eight Republican senators and one Republican House member as part of its “Arctic Frost” investigation, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said on Monday.
On Tuesday, Patel cited the report while explaining that former special counsel Jack Smith purportedly tracked the private communication of eight Republican senators and one GOP House member as part of his investigation into the Capitol protests on January 6, 2021.
The FBI has since terminated the FBI employees involved and has abolished the CR-15 squad — the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s public corruption unit.
Following the discovery, Patel also asserted that since the bureau was engaged in “baseless monitoring” during the Biden administration — further reckoning will come.
“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 told Fox News.
Patel also released an X post on Tuesday, adding: “They tracked the communications of GOP Senators. They weaponized law enforcement against the American people. That era is over. We fired those who acted unethically, dismantled the corrupt CR-15 squad, and launched an investigation. Transparency and accountability aren’t slogans, they’re promises kept.”
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino responded to the news as well, proclaiming, “We promised you transparency and accountability. We will continue to deliver on those promises. You deserve better.”
According to the Fox News report, citing the official FBI document, Smith and his team engaged in tracking phone data from the personal cell phones of GOP Senators Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), in addition to GOP Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), who is not a senator. Kelly was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010.
An FBI official also informed the outlet that Smith and his team had been tracking the phone numbers of all the individuals the senators called, the location from which the call originated, and where it was received.
President Donald Trump enthusiastically responded to the report in a Tuesday Truth Social post, writing: “Deranged Jack Smith got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A real sleazebag!!!”
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