Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and federal law enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Justice. It investigates federal crimes, national security threats, and conducts intelligence operations within the United States. Under Director Kash Patel, the Bureau became subject to controversy over investigations into political opponents and critics of the administration.
Also known as FBI · U.S. FBI · U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
2026 Events (30)
DOJ issued seven FBI subpoenas for Nevada voter data amid its separate court fight for the same records
On September 3, 2026, the Nevada Secretary of State's office confirmed it had received seven U.S. Department of Justice subpoenas, issued through the FBI, seeking voter-related information over the preceding three months. The disclosure came about three weeks after a federal judge dismissed a separate DOJ lawsuit that had sought Nevada's complete, unredacted voter registration list -- the department's 22nd consecutive district-court loss in a nationwide campaign for state voter rolls -- which DOJ has since appealed to the Ninth Circuit. Nevada's office did not disclose what specific information the subpoenas sought.
Injustice Watch investigation found Illinois police and sheriffs circumvented TRUST Act to help ICE detain, deport immigrants
Injustice Watch, in partnership with The Intercept, reported on 2026-08-25 that despite Illinois' 2017 TRUST Act barring local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement, officials at more than 75 agencies across over a third of the state's counties collaborated with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service during Trump's first 15 months back in office. The investigation, drawing on body-worn camera footage, nearly 400 records requests, and court filings, found the collaboration -- direct data-sharing, jail-to-ICE handovers, and at least one FBI-coached arrest workaround -- helped flag, detain, or deport at least 150 people.
Axios investigation reveals FBI obtained South Carolina voter's IP address in probe tied to Trump's unsubstantiated fraud claims
On July 31, 2026, Axios reported that the FBI had requested and obtained the IP address associated with a South Carolina resident's online voter registration, part of the Trump administration's investigation into unsubstantiated 2020 election-fraud claims. The FBI made the request in March 2026 and received the data in June 2026 through York County, South Carolina election officials; a York County official with roughly 20 years' tenure called it his first such interaction with law enforcement, and a former senior Justice Department official described the request as an inappropriate "fishing expedition" into private voter data. The tactic surfaced alongside a separate Justice Department lawsuit campaign seeking voter-roll access from roughly 30 states and Washington, D.C., and could extend to any of the 43 states plus D.C. that allow online voter registration.
FBI told agents to stop investigating ICE confrontations while officials publicly denied any policy change
In guidance circulated in mid-July 2026, federal agents were told the FBI would no longer investigate physical confrontations involving ICE officers, shifting review of such incidents to ICE's own Homeland Security Investigations unit. The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security publicly denied any policy change despite the guidance having already been distributed to agents nationwide.
FBI shifted investigations of fatal shootings by immigration agents to ICE's own HSI unit
On July 16, 2026, the FBI notified field offices in writing that it would stop investigating assaults and shootings involving federal immigration agents, deferring those cases instead to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The change follows fatal ICE shootings in Houston, Texas, and Biddeford, Maine, earlier in July, and was reported by The New York Times, CBS News, and NBC News, each citing independent sources; DOJ and DHS issued a joint statement denying that any change had occurred.
ProPublica investigation reveals FBI explored using AI to review signatures on seized Fulton County 2020 mail-in ballots
On July 15, 2026, ProPublica reported that the FBI had explored using artificial intelligence to assess the validity of signatures on tens of thousands of mail-in ballot envelopes seized from Fulton County, Georgia, as part of the Trump administration's reinvestigation of the 2020 election. Internal communications reviewed by the outlet showed the effort compared ballot-envelope signatures against other election documents using tooling an agency technology specialist described as questionable, while experts have long doubted the accuracy of signature matching. The initiative was under discussion as recently as late June, its status uncertain, and came as the bureau redirected 260 analysts nationwide to focus on the Fulton County probe.
FBI fired two analysts who objected to DOJ's 2020 Fulton County election probe as thin on evidence
The FBI fired two intelligence analysts after they raised concerns that the Justice Department's investigation into the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, was thin on evidence and politically motivated, and refused to join the probe, according to sources cited by CBS News on July 13, 2026. The analysts were among roughly 260 ordered to review seized ballots, voting-machine records, and voter rolls in the inquiry directed by FBI Director Kash Patel. The FBI said its employees are expected to uphold the bureau's mission and standards.
FBI Director Patel ordered 260 analysts from all field offices to surge on 2020 Georgia election investigation
On July 2, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel ordered every FBI field office to immediately contribute intelligence analysts to a priority investigation in Atlanta focused on individuals connected to the 2020 Georgia presidential election. An unclassified memo from the Directorate of Intelligence and Criminal Division specified a total of 260 analysts, assigned each office a quota of records checks to complete by July 17, and authorized overtime including weekends and holidays. The investigation was based on a referral from Kurt Olsen, a White House official heading the administration's election integrity portfolio, despite Georgia's 2020 result having been confirmed by both a machine recount and a full hand recount of every county in the state.
FBI expands Ohio Organizing Collaborative probe to affiliated national elections network
Federal agents have expanded the FBI's criminal investigation of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), a pro-democracy voter registration nonprofit raided on June 11, 2026, to include an affiliated national elections advocacy network. The expansion suggests a broader targeting of voter registration efforts ahead of the 2026 midterms, with evidence suggesting pre-election surveillance more than a year prior.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted sealed investigation details on social media while agents still sought suspects
On June 16, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel publicly posted details of an active, court-sealed FBI investigation on social media, revealing five arrests in an alleged plot to attack a UFC event at the White House while agents were still searching for additional suspects. Multiple FBI veterans told The Guardian the post may have violated the sealed court order and the FBI's own disciplinary code. Secret Service Deputy Director Matt Quinn implicitly rebuked Patel, noting that "the Secret Service led that investigation from the beginning" and that the case was "ongoing."
House Judiciary Democrats allege Kash Patel directed $1M+ in unlawful FBI bonuses to loyalist 'Payback Squad'
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation on June 16, 2026, into an alleged scheme by FBI Director Kash Patel to direct over $1 million in taxpayer-funded bonuses to a small group of loyalist agents on his personal security detail and "Director's Advisory Team," many of whom called themselves the "Payback Squad" for their willingness to pursue political targets and overlook legal requirements. Some agents received five consecutive $8,000 payments totaling nearly $40,000 per person, exceeding federal statutory pay limits.
FBI raids Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a voter-registration group
On June 11, 2026, FBI agents raided the Cleveland offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a nonprofit that runs statewide voter-registration programs, and fanned out across Columbus, Dayton, and Cincinnati to question current and former staff, serve subpoenas, and seize electronic devices. A board member estimated that more than 100 agents were involved and said investigators alleged voter fraud while presenting no evidence of wrongdoing. The raids came roughly five months before the 2026 midterm elections and drew condemnation from Ohio Democrats and democracy advocates as an attempt to intimidate voter-registration work.
DOJ charged eight U-Michigan divestment activists with 20-year federal felonies a year after state charges against the movement were dropped
On June 10, 2026, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan unsealed a 63-page indictment charging eight pro-Palestinian activists tied to the University of Michigan divestment movement with conspiracy to transmit a threat, conspiracy to tamper with a witness, and destruction of property to prevent seizure — felonies carrying five to twenty years. The charges, announced alongside FBI raids in Ypsilanti, describe a 2024–2025 intimidation campaign: vandalism and graffiti at the homes of the U-M provost and regents, the placement of fake bloody corpses on a board member's lawn, and the defacing of the Jewish Federation of Detroit. The case followed the collapse of an earlier, separate state prosecution: charges Attorney General Dana Nessel brought against U-M encampment protesters in 2024 were all dropped by May 2025. Civil-rights groups say the federal charges treat political advocacy as terrorism and blur protected speech with criminal conduct.
The Intercept investigation reveals FBI recruited informants from roughly half of Delaney Hall's ~90 protest arrestees
Following the May 29, 2026 mass arrest of approximately 90 protesters at Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, the FBI contacted roughly half the arrestees in subsequent weeks to recruit them as informants on other demonstrators. Agents asked targeted protesters to report on "anybody planning to go to Delaney Hall with not the right intentions." Essex County Public Defender Benjamin Van Meter, representing multiple arrested protesters, filed a formal complaint alleging the FBI contacts violated attorney-client privilege.
FBI fires five analysts who worked on withdrawn 2023 'Richmond memo'
On June 5, 2026, the FBI fired five employees — four intelligence analysts and a supervisory analyst — who were involved in creating the withdrawn 2023 "Richmond memo" on "Radical Traditionalist Catholic" ideology, a document long targeted by President Trump's allies. An internal FBI review and a DOJ inspector general review had both previously found no malicious intent and no discriminatory conduct, and the employees had already been admonished, with corrective process changes adopted. Their lawyer called the firings "manifestly unjust, completely unsupported by the facts."
FBI moved to interview Milwaukee police and Wisconsin election officials in DOJ 2020-election reinvestigation
In May 2026, FBI agents working for a Trump-administration Justice Department probe of Wisconsin's 2020 presidential election moved to interview Milwaukee Police Department officers who had been posted at polling places and the city's central ballot-counting site on Election Night 2020, and sought interviews with current and former Milwaukee election officials and Wisconsin Elections Commission deputy administrator Robert Kehoe. The Wisconsin effort extended a multi-state federal campaign — already underway in Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan — to reinvestigate Joe Biden's 2020 wins despite audits, recounts, and court rulings that found no widespread fraud. Election-law experts described the interviews as intended to intimidate election officials, noting that the federal statute of limitations for 2020-election conduct had expired.
FBI omitted Patel's Navy-arranged 'VIP snorkel' at USS Arizona from public trip account
The Associated Press reported, based on government emails obtained through a public records request, that the FBI's public news releases about Director Kash Patel's August 2025 official trip to Australia and New Zealand omitted both a two-day personal stop in Hawaii on the return leg and a Navy-coordinated "VIP Snorkel" around the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor — a sunken battleship and military cemetery normally closed to recreational diving. Flight-tracking data showed the FBI Gulfstream G550 used by the director remained on Hawaii for two nights during the second stay before continuing on to Patel's adopted hometown of Las Vegas. A Navy spokesperson confirmed the outing but said the service could not determine who initiated it.
FBI opens criminal leak probe targeting the sources behind The Atlantic's reporting on Kash Patel
In early May 2026, MS NOW reported — with corroboration from PBS NewsHour, TheWrap, Poynter and Democracy Now — that the FBI had opened a criminal "insider threat" investigation into the sourcing behind Atlantic reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick's story documenting FBI Director Kash Patel's excessive drinking and erratic conduct. The probe is highly unusual: it does not stem from any disclosure of classified information and instead targets leaks to a journalist, a posture in which reporters have historically been treated only as witnesses. FBI agents assigned to the matter reportedly objected that they were not supposed to pursue it, and the bureau publicly denied the investigation.
FBI opened inquiry into NYT reporter Elizabeth Williamson over her story on Director Patel's girlfriend
The New York Times reported on April 22, 2026, that FBI agents searched bureau databases for information on Times reporter Elizabeth Williamson and recommended opening a preliminary investigation into whether her February 28 reporting on FBI Director Kash Patel's decision to provide his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins with round-the-clock SWAT-team security amounted to federal stalking. Justice Department officials ended the inquiry after determining there was no legal basis to proceed and over concerns it was retaliatory. The FBI denied that Williamson was "personally investigated" but confirmed agents had queried databases and interviewed Wilkins about her, framing the work as victim-interview activity tied to a separate death-threat case.
Deputy AG Blanche boasts every DOJ and FBI employee who investigated Trump is gone
At a CPAC fireside chat on March 26, 2026, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche declared that every Justice Department and FBI employee who worked on the criminal investigations into President Trump had been fired, resigned, or taken early retirement — "not a single man or woman" remained — putting the DOJ figure at "over 200." His public confirmation marked the completion of a systematic purge of the career personnel who had investigated the president, with termination letters citing employees' prosecution work as the reason they could not be "trusted."
FBI Director Kash Patel admitted under oath that FBI buys Americans' location data from brokers without a warrant
On March 18, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel testified under oath at a Senate Intelligence Committee worldwide threats hearing in Washington, D.C. that the FBI purchases Americans' location data from commercial data brokers rather than obtaining a warrant, in response to questioning from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Patel said the practice is "consistent with the constitution and the laws under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act," directly reversing predecessor Christopher Wray's 2023 sworn testimony that the bureau had stopped the practice. Wyden called the warrantless purchase "an outrageous end run around the fourth amendment."
FBI obtains Arizona Senate's 2020 Maricopa election audit records via grand-jury subpoena
In early March 2026 the FBI served the Arizona Senate a federal grand-jury subpoena for digital records from the chamber's discredited 2021 "audit" of Maricopa County's 2020 presidential election; Senate President Warren Petersen, a Republican, disclosed on March 9 that he had received and complied with it. The 2021 review — run by the Trump-allied firm Cyber Ninjas — had itself confirmed that Joe Biden won the county. State election officials condemned the subpoena as part of a federal campaign to relitigate an election that President Trump lost.
FBI fires about 10 employees who worked on Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified-documents case
Around February 25, 2026, the FBI dismissed roughly 10 employees who had worked on the criminal investigation into President Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The firings came hours after FBI Director Kash Patel publicly characterized the inquiry — under which his and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles's phone records had been subpoenaed — as Biden-era overreach, and followed reporting that those subpoenas had surfaced. The bureau dismissed additional personnel the next day, bringing the total to roughly a dozen.
DOJ withheld and removed Epstein-file records tied to a Trump sexual-abuse allegation
An NPR investigation published February 24, 2026 found that the Justice Department's public Epstein-files database was missing dozens of pages of FBI records connected to a woman's allegation that Donald Trump sexually abused her as a minor in the early 1980s. NPR reported that roughly 53 pages of interview notes were withheld or removed — some briefly taken offline and not fully restored — while other Epstein materials remained public. The DOJ said unpublished records were privileged, duplicative, or under review, and House Democrats and the Republican committee chair each announced investigations into the omissions.
FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force visited former Extinction Rebellion NYC member's upstate New York home under NSPM-7 directive
On February 6, 2026, two special agents from the FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force visited the upstate New York home of a former Extinction Rebellion NYC member to question him about the group, following a phone contact the prior month. The visit came after President Trump's National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 directed federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate groups and individuals linked to "anti-fascism," "anti-capitalism," and similar political activity. The FBI's New York field office would not confirm or deny an investigation, citing standing Justice Department policy.
FBI raids Fulton County, Georgia election office to seize 2020 ballots; DNI Gabbard joins
On January 28, 2026, FBI agents executed a federal search warrant at the Fulton County, Georgia election office in Union City, seizing the physical 2020 presidential-election ballots, ballot images, tabulator tapes, and voter rolls of the county Donald Trump falsely blames for his narrow Georgia loss. The warrant followed a December 2025 Justice Department lawsuit demanding the records; Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — who has no domestic law-enforcement authority — joined the raid, ran a parallel election-fraud inquiry, and arranged a call for Trump to thank the agents. County officials said the seizure left them unable to vouch for the chain of custody of the 2020 records.
Federal agents blocked Minnesota investigators from Alex Pretti shooting evidence, refused to honor state search warrant
On January 27, 2026, federal agents blocked Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from accessing evidence at the Minneapolis scene where federal officers had killed Alex Pretti three days earlier, turning away state investigators even after they obtained a valid search warrant. Federal agents also failed to maintain proper chain of custody for the murder weapon, placing it on a vehicle seat rather than securing it in a labeled evidence bag. The FBI subsequently refused to share evidence with state investigators, and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty issued formal Touhy demands after a federal judge dissolved an emergency evidence preservation order.
FBI opens criminal probe of Minneapolis anti-ICE activists' Signal chats
On Monday, January 26, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau had opened a criminal investigation into encrypted Signal group chats used by Minneapolis anti-ICE activists to share descriptions and license plates of suspected immigration-enforcement vehicles. Patel disclosed the probe in an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, saying it was prompted by a viral X thread from influencer Cam Higby, who claimed to have "infiltrated" the chats, and that the FBI was examining whether the activity crossed legal thresholds such as "doxxing" agents. Free-speech advocates noted that observing and documenting on-duty law enforcement is generally lawful and warned the investigation could chill protected organizing.
DOJ and FBI arrest anti-ICE church-protest organizers under FACE Act and conspiracy statute
On January 22, 2026, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel announced federal charges against Minneapolis civil-rights organizer Nekima Levy Armstrong, St. Paul school-board member Chauntyll Allen, and others over a January 18 anti-ICE demonstration inside Cities Church in St. Paul, where one pastor also directs the local ICE field office. The activists were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act and 18 U.S.C. § 241 (conspiracy against rights); Levy Armstrong was processed and released the same day after a federal magistrate found insufficient evidence to detain her. These were the first arrests in a prosecution that a February 27 superseding indictment would expand to 39 defendants.
FBI searched Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's Alexandria, Virginia home, seized her devices in Pentagon leak probe
On January 14, 2026, FBI agents executed a search warrant at the Alexandria, Virginia home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson and seized her phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin watch, as part of a Pentagon-referred Justice Department leak investigation into a government contractor accused of taking home classified reports. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the search was conducted at the Defense Department's request; Natanson and the Post were not targets of the underlying probe, but the seizure cut off her access to more than 1,000 confidential sources and her ongoing reporting on the administration's downsizing of the federal workforce.
2025 Events (9)
Trump directed U.S. forces to seize oil tanker Skipper off Venezuela, opening blockade campaign without congressional authorization
On December 10, 2025, U.S. forces seized the crude-oil tanker Skipper off the coast of Venezuela in a pre-dawn operation launched from the USS Gerald R. Ford, boarding the vessel with Coast Guard and Marine personnel under a DOJ civil-forfeiture warrant. President Trump announced the seizure at a White House event, declaring the U.S. would keep the roughly 1–2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude on board. The action — the first vessel seizure of a broader oil-blockade campaign — was carried out without congressional authorization; Venezuela condemned it as "an act of international piracy."
AG Bondi ordered FBI to compile list of Americans by political viewpoint
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a Justice Department memo ordering the FBI to compile a list of Americans and groups engaged in acts constituting "domestic terrorism." The memo targeted individuals expressing opposition to immigration enforcement, support for mass migration and open borders, and adherence to radical gender ideology. Bondi directed the FBI to establish a cash reward system for informants and retroactively investigate conduct from the past five years.
AG Bondi directed FBI to target Americans expressing opposition to immigration enforcement, LGBTQ+ rights, anti-capitalism
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a Justice Department memo on December 4, 2025 directing the FBI to identify and investigate Americans engaging in "domestic terrorism," a term redefined to encompass lawful political speech: opposition to immigration enforcement, support for mass migration, gender identity ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christian sentiment. The memo establishes cash rewards for informants, enhanced tipline capabilities, and retroactive investigation of conduct from the prior five years, creating infrastructure for mass surveillance and selective prosecution based on political viewpoint.
FBI probes Democratic lawmakers for First Amendment-protected video on military constitutional duties
The FBI's counterterrorism division contacted six Democratic members of Congress on November 25, 2025 to request interviews following President Trump's public accusations that they committed "seditious" acts. The six—Sens. Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin and Reps. Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, and Chrissy Houlahan—had released a video reminding U.S. military personnel of their constitutional obligation to refuse unlawful orders, protected First Amendment speech in response to the Trump administration's strikes on Latin American targets. The inquiry came one day after the Pentagon threatened to recall Sen. Kelly to active duty for potential military charges.
FBI-led task force with ICE, local police raided Wilder, Idaho racetrack; detained ~400 including citizens, children with flash-bangs, rubber bullets
On October 19, 2025, more than 200 federal, state, and local officers raided La Catedral racetrack in Wilder, Idaho, detaining roughly 400 attendees -- including U.S. citizens and children -- for about four hours. Officers zip-tied detainees at gunpoint and used flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets, including on occupied vehicles. DHS credited ICE with leading the operation, but the Canyon County sheriff and Caldwell police chief called that "completely false," saying the FBI's Metro Violent Crime and Gang Task Force -- of which local agencies are longstanding members -- led a gambling-warrant operation, with ICE present only to process detainees' immigration status.
FBI Director Patel fired three career agents who worked on Jack Smith's 2020-election investigation, citing no cause
Between October 7 and November 4, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel fired three career FBI agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman, and Blaire Toleman, each with eight to fourteen years of service — who had previously been assigned to support Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Their termination letters accused them of "weaponizing" their positions but cited no specific misconduct finding and gave them no opportunity to respond. The firings were part of a broader purge of FBI personnel perceived as having worked against Trump's interests.
FBI Director Patel fires about 15 agents for kneeling during 2020 George Floyd protests, reversing predecessor's no-violation finding
On September 26, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel fired approximately 15–20 career FBI agents for being photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington, D.C., in June 2020 following George Floyd's killing. Then-Director Christopher Wray had reviewed the incident at the time and found no policy violation. Under Patel, the FBI reopened the matter earlier in 2025, initially demoting the agents before proceeding to terminations.
FBI searched home and office of former national security adviser Bolton; Trump privately directed investigation toward vocal critic
On August 22, 2025, FBI agents searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former national security adviser John Bolton as part of a classified-information investigation. Bolton, a vocal Trump critic since leaving the administration in 2019, was not detained and no charges were filed at the time. The Washington Post reported that Trump had privately pointed a finger at Bolton in the days immediately preceding the raids, while the Biden-era Justice Department had reviewed the same underlying materials and declined to prosecute.
DOJ criminally charged sitting Milwaukee judge Hannah Dugan with obstructing ICE arrest in her courtroom
The Justice Department on April 25, 2025 filed federal criminal charges against sitting Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, accusing her of obstructing ICE agents who sought to arrest a defendant, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, following his hearing in her courtroom. Dugan was later convicted by a federal jury and, on July 8, 2026, sentenced to a $5,000 fine with no prison time.