DOJ shutters FBI unit that investigated Trump and 2020 election interference
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has shuttered a special Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unit that focused on public corruption and whose legwork led to the special counsel investigation of President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election results.
The unit was one of three at the Washington, D.C. field office that investigated members of Congress and other public officials, according to NBC, which first reported the shutdown Thursday. Its unit’s work during the previous administration had led to a special counsel investigation of Trump by Jack Smith and Trump’s indictment in 2023. A Supreme Court ruling concerning presidential immunity resulted in the case never going to trial. The FBI is currently led by Kash Patel.
News of the FBI unit closure came as Matthew Galeotti, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, announced May 12 a sweeping redistribution of resources and effort across the agency, including the FBI, to focus much more on illegal immigration and illicit drug trafficking and much less on white-collar crime.
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