FBI Disbands Corruption Squad That Helped Investigate Trump

The FBI’s Washington Field Office is quietly disbanding its elite federal public corruption squad — the same team that helped launch the controversial special counsel investigation into President Donald Trump. The move, confirmed by multiple sources to NBC News, is sparking fresh outrage among watchdogs and lawmakers who say political accountability is crumbling fast in Washington.

Internally known as “CR15,” the now-defunct squad played a central role in the bureau’s “Arctic Frost” investigation. That probe laid the groundwork for Special Counsel Jack Smith’s charges related to Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election — charges that were ultimately dropped after Trump returned to office.

Agents assigned to CR15 are being reassigned to other divisions, according to an FBI official. The bureau says this is part of a broader restructuring at the Washington Field Office. They also insist public corruption investigations will continue — just without the specialized team.

But timing is everything. The dismantling of CR15 comes as the FBI ramps up immigration enforcement efforts, a job typically handled by ICE under the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, one of the top brass at the field office has also been quietly reassigned — a move the FBI claims wasn’t punitive.

The shift follows an earlier gutting of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, the DOJ unit that prosecutes political corruption. That team also faced internal resignations after some prosecutors reportedly refused to approve the DOJ’s decision to drop a federal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In a rare rebuke, the judge not only dismissed the case but barred the government from reviving it later.

“This is yet another sign that it’s open season for political corruption,” said Stacey Young, founder of Justice Connection, a network of former DOJ officials. “They gutted the Public Integrity Section, neutered the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C., and now they’re shuttering the FBI’s top public corruption squad. This isn’t what voters meant when they said ‘drain the swamp.’”

Senate Republicans are already sounding the alarm. Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley and Investigations Chair Ron Johnson have been digging into CR15 for months. In a statement, Grassley didn’t hold back: “My oversight has shown time and again how the FBI’s CR-15 unit was weaponized to execute one-sided political attacks, particularly against President Trump and his allies. It’s good news it’s been shut down after I exposed the unit for its misconduct.”

Grassley also demanded the FBI preserve all records from CR15, warning that his investigation is far from over.

To recap: the Arctic Frost investigation that CR15 helped build was launched in April 2022, well before Trump declared his 2024 candidacy. Attorney General Merrick Garland later appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to avoid a Biden appointee overseeing a case against Biden’s political rival.

Smith indicted Trump in August 2023, but appeals tied up the case until the Supreme Court ruled that Trump was immune from prosecution for actions taken while in office — effectively killing the case.

Still, Smith released a scorching final report claiming Trump “inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence” on January 6 and spread election lies he knew were false.