Kash Patel Fired Entire Team of Iran Experts Right Before Trump’s War
They were let go during a purge of people who investigated Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
By Edith Olmsted/The New Republic
March 3, 2026
10:37 a.m. ET
Kash Patel baselessly fired an elite team of agents specializing in foreign threats from the Middle East just days before Donald Trump launched an illegal military campaign in Iran.
Patel terminated a dozen employees and staff after accusing them—without providing evidence—of improperly investigating Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. The FBI director specifically gutted a group known as CI-12, a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring threats from Iran and its proxies. Days later, Trump toppled Iran’s regime and sparked a sprawling regional conflict in the Middle East.
The targeting of this global espionage team was first reported on by The New York Sun.
It’s not surprising that the members of CI-12 were involved in investigating Trump for holding onto classified documents after he left the White House in 2020. CI-12 is charged with media leaks and the mishandling of classified documents, and the documents found at Trump’s estate reportedly included U.S. military plans for Iran.
These latest firings have raised concerns that the U.S. will be unable to respond to threats as the United States and Israel engage in major combat operations in Iran. Nearly half of all working FBI agents have been reassigned to immigration enforcement, including those working in counterterrorism.
The terminations also occurred amid wider reductions in force and waves of resignations at the Department of Justice. The DOJ’s National Security Division—including the counterterrorism office—has already lost at least half of its workforce, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Patel’s decision to terminate his elite experts on Iran is just one of many elements of Trump’s decision to take the U.S. into war that feels unplanned, and leaves Americans exposed.
By Edith Olmsted/The New Republic
March 3, 2026
10:37 a.m. ET
Kash Patel baselessly fired an elite team of agents specializing in foreign threats from the Middle East just days before Donald Trump launched an illegal military campaign in Iran.
Patel terminated a dozen employees and staff after accusing them—without providing evidence—of improperly investigating Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. The FBI director specifically gutted a group known as CI-12, a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring threats from Iran and its proxies. Days later, Trump toppled Iran’s regime and sparked a sprawling regional conflict in the Middle East.
The targeting of this global espionage team was first reported on by The New York Sun.
It’s not surprising that the members of CI-12 were involved in investigating Trump for holding onto classified documents after he left the White House in 2020. CI-12 is charged with media leaks and the mishandling of classified documents, and the documents found at Trump’s estate reportedly included U.S. military plans for Iran.
These latest firings have raised concerns that the U.S. will be unable to respond to threats as the United States and Israel engage in major combat operations in Iran. Nearly half of all working FBI agents have been reassigned to immigration enforcement, including those working in counterterrorism.
The terminations also occurred amid wider reductions in force and waves of resignations at the Department of Justice. The DOJ’s National Security Division—including the counterterrorism office—has already lost at least half of its workforce, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
Patel’s decision to terminate his elite experts on Iran is just one of many elements of Trump’s decision to take the U.S. into war that feels unplanned, and leaves Americans exposed.
