Newly released FBI records show a rank-and-file agent actively lobbied supervisors to join the bureau's investigation of Donald Trump and separately pitched opening a probe into Elon Musk, according to files obtained and reported by Fox News. The documents, released under congressional pressure, have reignited fierce debate over whether the FBI's political targeting extended well beyond its senior leadership.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who has spent years pressing for transparency around the bureau's Trump-era conduct, called the revelations "worse than Watergate." The files landed as the FBI faces continued scrutiny under Director Kash Patel, who has pledged to root out politicization within the agency.
The internal records, which Fox News reviewed, detail communications in which an FBI agent expressed a desire to be assigned to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, the bureau's probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The agent did not simply accept an assignment. The agent sought one out, raising questions about whether political motivation drove the request.
Separately, the same records reveal the agent floated the idea of opening an investigation into Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who has become a prominent ally of Trump. The files do not indicate that a formal investigation into Musk was ever opened based on the agent's suggestion, but the proposal itself drew sharp reactions from Republican lawmakers.
Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, framed the documents as proof that the FBI's institutional problems ran deeper than a handful of bad actors at the top. His "worse than Watergate" characterization reflects a long-held conservative argument: that the bureau weaponized its investigative authority against political opponents during and after the 2016 election cycle.
The new files add another chapter to the Crossfire Hurricane saga, which has dogged the FBI since the investigation's origins in the summer of 2016. That probe, launched during the Obama administration under then-Director James Comey, examined whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian officials. It ultimately found no evidence of collusion.
But the investigation's conduct drew withering criticism. Declassified footnotes from a December 2019 DOJ Inspector General report revealed that the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane team possessed at least two intelligence reports warning that key elements of the Christopher Steele dossier were part of a Russian disinformation campaign. Despite those warnings, the bureau continued using the dossier to obtain FISA surveillance orders, the secret court authorizations that allowed the government to monitor Trump campaign associate Carter Page.
Senators Grassley and Ron Johnson demanded that then-Director Christopher Wray produce all records from the investigation, warning that Russian disinformation may have been "widespread throughout" the FBI's work. Their letter laid out a damning timeline: the FBI knew the Steele material was suspect and pressed forward anyway.
Johnson, who chaired the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Grassley, then leading the Senate Finance Committee, wrote that the declassified footnotes "reveal disturbing facts about the FBI's investigation: the Crossfire Hurricane team's investigative file included at least two intelligence reports stating that key parts of the reporting from Christopher Steele were part of a Russian disinformation campaign." The Washington Examiner reported on the senators' formal demand for answers about how deeply the disinformation had infected the probe.
The FBI's conduct during Crossfire Hurricane extended beyond surveillance warrants. A declassified document released by then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe showed that FBI agents Joe Pientka and Peter Strzok briefed Trump on intelligence matters on August 17, 2016, while simultaneously running the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into his campaign.
Pientka's own summary of the briefing confirmed the dual purpose. He wrote that during the session, he "actively listened for topics or questions regarding the Russian Federation." In other words, the FBI used a routine intelligence briefing for the Republican presidential nominee as a counterintelligence collection opportunity. National Review detailed the declassified document, which also noted that Michael Flynn, referred to internally as "Crossfire Razor," attended the briefing. Pientka and Strzok later interviewed Flynn, leading to charges that he lied to federal investigators.
Strzok, of course, became one of the most controversial figures in the entire saga after text messages revealed his anti-Trump sentiments. He was removed from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team after the texts surfaced.
The newly released files fit a pattern that conservative lawmakers and legal commentators have tracked for years: individual FBI personnel appearing to act on political sympathies rather than neutral law enforcement mandates. The agent's reported push to investigate Musk is particularly striking given that Musk had no known connection to any criminal matter referenced in the files.
The FBI has faced a string of accountability questions in recent years. An inspector general investigation found that FBI leadership shielded staff involved in drafting an intelligence memo targeting traditional Catholics, raising similar concerns about ideological bias within the bureau's ranks.
Grassley's office has positioned these latest documents as central to a broader oversight campaign. The senator has argued that accountability requires not just identifying misconduct at the top but understanding how rank-and-file agents participated in or sought to join politically charged investigations.
The question of motive remains unresolved. Investigators have not publicly confirmed whether the agent who sought to join the Trump probe or proposed investigating Musk acted on personal political views, a misreading of intelligence, or some other basis. The files, as released, show the agent's requests but do not include a documented rationale that would settle the question.
The disclosures arrive as Director Patel works to reshape the bureau's image and operations. Patel has pledged to refocus the FBI on core law enforcement and national security missions, and his tenure has already produced high-profile results. The bureau recently arrested a Pennsylvania man in an alleged ISIS-inspired attack plot, underscoring the kind of threat-driven work Patel has said should define the agency.
But the Crossfire Hurricane legacy continues to cast a long shadow over public trust. Polls have consistently shown that Republican voters view the FBI with deep skepticism, a sentiment rooted in the Trump-era investigations and the perception that the bureau operated as a political instrument rather than an impartial law enforcement body.
For Grassley and his allies, the newly released files reinforce that skepticism with hard documentation. The senator's "worse than Watergate" comparison is not casual. Watergate involved a break-in and cover-up that brought down a president. Grassley is arguing that the FBI's conduct, using the nation's most powerful investigative tools against a presidential candidate and later a sitting president based on material the bureau knew was suspect, represents a graver breach of institutional trust.
Whether that comparison holds up will depend in part on what additional records emerge. Grassley has signaled that more requests are coming, and Patel has indicated a willingness to cooperate with congressional oversight that his predecessors resisted.
The FBI has also drawn scrutiny for its handling of other sensitive investigations, including its probe into the background of Thomas Crooks, the gunman in the Trump assassination attempt, where released documents raised questions about the depth and timing of the bureau's work.
Congressional investigators will need to determine several things the current files do not answer. Authorities have not publicly confirmed whether the agent who sought to join the Trump probe was ever assigned to it. Investigators have not said whether the proposed Musk investigation received any formal consideration beyond the initial suggestion. And the full scope of rank-and-file participation in politically sensitive cases remains unclear.
Grassley's committee has the subpoena power to compel additional records, and the senator has shown no inclination to let the matter rest. With Patel at the helm and a Republican-controlled Senate backing oversight efforts, the conditions for further disclosures are stronger than at any point since Crossfire Hurricane launched nearly nine years ago.
When the FBI's own files show agents volunteering for political investigations and pitching probes of presidential allies, the question is no longer whether the bureau had a culture problem. The question is how deep it went and whether anyone will be held to account.
