FBI Director Kash Patel Disbands ‘Corrupt’ Squad That Spied on GOP Senators: ‘That Era Is Over’

FBI Director Kash Patel announced Tuesday that the bureau has formally dismantled the controversial CR-15 unit, a team of federal agents accused of spying on Republican lawmakers under the Biden administration’s now-defunct “Arctic Frost” investigation.

“They tracked the communications of GOP Senators. They weaponized law enforcement against the American people. That era is over,” Patel declared in a post on X. “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.”

CR-15 and ‘Arctic Frost’

The CR-15 unit operated out of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and was one of three public corruption squads. It played a central role in the Arctic Frost probe, a highly classified investigation launched in 2022 during the Biden administration that examined efforts by President Trump and his allies to contest the 2020 election.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith later took over the investigation, which became infamous for controversial raids and surveillance tactics — including the retrieval of phones belonging to President Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence through coordination with Biden White House officials.

Targeting Republican Senators

On Monday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) released an internal FBI document revealing that the bureau’s CAST (Cellular Analysis Survey Team) conducted a “preliminary toll analysis” — essentially a metadata sweep — on the phone records of at least eight sitting Republican senators and one House member during the Arctic Frost operation.

Those targeted included:

• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

• Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)

• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)

• Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)

• Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)

• Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.)

• Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.)

• Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)

• Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.)

The records reportedly did not involve wiretapping, but rather documented who the lawmakers called and when — a tactic critics say still amounts to political surveillance under the guise of a sensitive “election law” investigation.

Patel’s Reforms and Fallout

Although the CR-15 unit was quietly dissolved in May, Patel’s public announcement marks the first time the FBI has officially acknowledged the depth of the surveillance and vowed systemic change.

Patel’s move to purge and investigate those involved is being hailed by some as a long-overdue correction to what they see as years of politically biased law enforcement under Biden’s Department of Justice.

Senator Grassley, who has long led congressional oversight efforts into DOJ and FBI misconduct, said Monday, “If heads don’t roll in this town, nothing changes.” He vowed to keep pressing the investigation into FBI abuses tied to Arctic Frost.

Background: A Pattern of Weaponization

The FBI’s actions under the Arctic Frost investigation have come under growing scrutiny, particularly after revelations that the CR-15 squad participated in the controversial 2022 arrest of former Trump advisor Peter Navarro, and that multiple phones were seized without the subjects’ consent or prior legal notification.

While Biden-era officials have attempted to portray the operation as a legitimate probe into “election integrity,” critics across the political spectrum argue it crossed serious legal and ethical lines — especially when it came to monitoring lawmakers.

With the CR-15 unit now dismantled and an internal probe underway, Patel’s leadership marks a sharp turn for the FBI, signaling what some hope is the end of politicized federal law enforcement.

“Accountability begins with cleaning house,” Patel said. “We are rebuilding trust, brick by brick.”