Political tensions rise in Washington after FBI officials tied to Trump investigations are dismissed.

At least 10 employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who worked on former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents were terminated on Wednesday, according to multiple sources cited by CBS News.

The employees were involved in the federal case examining Trump’s handling of classified records after he left the White House in 2021. The investigation had focused on whether Trump unlawfully retained sensitive national security documents and whether he obstructed efforts by the Justice Department to retrieve them.

The firings came shortly after a report by Reuters revealed that the FBI had subpoenaed phone call records of current FBI Director Kash Patel and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. At the time the records were reportedly subpoenaed, both Patel and Wiles were private citizens.

According to Reuters, Patel alleged that the FBI had secretly subpoenaed his phone records using “flimsy pretexts” and had hidden the process within restricted case files to avoid oversight. However, Reuters stated it could not independently verify Patel’s claims. Patel has not presented public evidence of misconduct by the dismissed employees.

Jack Smith had overseen two major federal investigations involving Trump — one concerning alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and the other related to classified documents retained after his presidency. The election-related case, internally known as “Arctic Frost,” reportedly did not involve any subpoena of Patel’s records.

Sources familiar with the matter confirmed that Susie Wiles’ phone records were reviewed as part of the classified documents investigation. However, it remains unclear whether Patel’s records were formally obtained.

The Justice Department has not released an official statement detailing the reasons behind the terminations. The development has intensified political debate over federal law enforcement’s role in high-profile political investigations and raised fresh questions about oversight, transparency, and accountability within federal agencies.