FBI Fires, Rehires, Then Fires Again Agents Who Investigated Trump as Part of Jack Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ Investigation

Several FBI agents with ties to the “Arctic Frost” investigation into President Trump fired by director Kash Patel in a show of loyalty to the president, only to be told the firings have been reversed, have now been fired again.On Monday, the FBI dismissed at least six agents from the Washington Field Office who were involved in Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s 2022 investigation into Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.At least two of those firings, however, were subsequently reversed at the insistence of Ms. Pirro, who reportedly asked FBI leadership to retain agents actively involved in the FBI’s ongoing crime crackdown in Washington D.C. At least four employees were formally dismissed on Tuesday.It wasn’t immediately clear what was behind FBI leadership’s about-face. The seemingly chaotic and arbitrary firings underscore the conflicting priorities in Mr. Patel’s FBI: exact revenge against those who investigated Mr. Trump or reassign federal agents to “crush” violent crime. Some of the agents fired Monday were identified in Senator Chuck Grassley’s recent release of more than 1,700 pages of records, including nearly 200 subpoenas related to Mr. Smith’s “Arctic Frost” investigation, which targeted hundreds of Republican and conservative organizations and individuals. Mr. Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, left the names of many FBI agents and officials unredacted on the subpoenas, including that of Special Agent Jeremy Desor, who was vilified on social media by conservative figures like attorney Ivan Raiklin, who was among those investigated during “Arctic Frost.”Mr. Desor was one of the agents fired on Monday. Also fired was FBI agent Jamie Garman, who had previously been placed on leave for having worked on the preliminary analysis of the telephone call records of several Republican senators, including Mike Kelly, Marsha Blackburn, and Lindsey Graham.In the so-called “limited tolls” analysis, the FBI pulled the phone records of the senators to see who they’d spoken to on or around January 6, 2021. The FBI would not know what was said on the calls — that would have required a judge-approved wiretap issued in advance — just that the calls were made.Last week, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio field office, Aaron Tapp, was placed on administrative leave for his prior role in overseeing several Trump-related investigations, including Arctic Frost. Mr. Tapp is expected to retire later this month. In a statement, the FBI Agents Association, which represents retired and current agents, accused FBI Director Kash Patel of having “disregarded the law” by launching a campaign of “erratic and arbitrary retribution.”“The actions yesterday — in which FBI Special Agents were terminated and then reinstated shortly after, and then only to be fired again today — highlight the chaos that occurs when long-standing policies and processes are ignored. An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination,” the FBIAA said. An FBI spokesman did not respond to questions from the Sun about the dismissals. Last month, Mr. Patel boasted to Fox News of his decision to shut down the public corruption unit and fire its assigned agents for its role in the Arctic Frost investigation.“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. We’re just warming up,” Mr. Patel said during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity.A former assistant director in charge of the Washington Field office, Steven Jensen, was among three FBI officials who sued Mr. Patel, his co-deputy director, Daniel Bongino, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing the three of unconstitutionally firing them. “Patel explained that he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President,” the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court at Washington, claims.Mr. Patel is currently facing increased scrutiny for flying his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, on a government jet to a wrestling event in Pennsylvania during the ongoing government lockdown. Mr. Patel, who is mandated by congress to fly a government plane equipped with secure communications technology, was criticized for the poor optics of the jaunt after reposting pictures of himself with Ms. Wilkins at the event. Last weekend, Mr. Patel fired Steven Palmer, a 27-year FBI veteran and head of the Critical Incident Response Group, which oversees the bureau’s airplane fleet. Mr. Palmer was dismissed over disclosures in flight data logs, published by Flightaware, detailing Mr. Patel’s trip to the Real American Freestyle wrestling event, and for restricting Mr. Patel’s use of other CIRG resources like FBI helicopters, according to a person familiar with the firing.On X Monday night, the conservative attorney Mr. Raiklin thanked Mr. Patel for Mr. Desor’s firing, writing: “Scalp: Former Special Agent Jeremy Desor.”

FBI Fires, Rehires, Then Fires Again Agents Who Investigated Trump as Part of Jack Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ Investigation

FBI Fires, Rehires, Then Fires Again Agents Who Investigated Trump as Part of Jack Smith’s ‘Arctic Frost’ Investigation

More from the New York Sun

Did Eve Arden Live the Life Sylvia Plath Desired?

Washington Slow To Tackle a Brewing Crisis, as America’s Most Powerful Mideast Allies, Turkey and Israel, Lock Horns

Hasan Piker’s Mockery of Charlie Kirk Updates Orwell’s ‘Two Minutes Hate’ for the Podcast Era

WNBA Rejects Draft Bid From Former NBA Players, Calling Intentions a ‘Publicity Stunt’

Roni Ben-Hur’s Stylish Latin Jazz Entente

Finding the Altalena

The Rent Freeze Case Moves to Manhattan

‘60 Is the New 50:’ Rule Change Turns NFL Placekickers Into Long-Distance Bombers

More from the New York Sun

Did Eve Arden Live the Life Sylvia Plath Desired?

Washington Slow To Tackle a Brewing Crisis, as America’s Most Powerful Mideast Allies, Turkey and Israel, Lock Horns

Hasan Piker’s Mockery of Charlie Kirk Updates Orwell’s ‘Two Minutes Hate’ for the Podcast Era

WNBA Rejects Draft Bid From Former NBA Players, Calling Intentions a ‘Publicity Stunt’

Roni Ben-Hur’s Stylish Latin Jazz Entente

Finding the Altalena

The Rent Freeze Case Moves to Manhattan

‘60 Is the New 50:’ Rule Change Turns NFL Placekickers Into Long-Distance Bombers