EXCLUSIVE: A previously identified anti-Trump FBI agent allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Trump to the probe without sufficient predication.

Sen. Chuck Grassley opened the confirmation of Kash Patel for FBI director by revealing several emails regarding investigations into President Trump.

Plus: Kash Patel, Trump's pick to lead the FBI, and his role in Jan. 6 misinformation | Trump pledges sweeping tariffs on steel, semiconductors

Top House Democrats say that the way in which Jack Smith's staffers were fired "very likely violated longstanding federal laws."

The DOJ official argued that the firings are in line with the Trump administration’s “mission of ending the weaponization of government.”

Mr. Trump has declared on Truth Social that Mr. Smith “should be prosecuted for election interference & prosecutorial misconduct.” The president has also called him a “career criminal.” He also reposted the radio host Mark Levin’s view that “Jack Smith must go to prison.”

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding to see the volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report dealing with the Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation, asserting it has

As Republicans' take on the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection evolved from disapproving to defensive, Kash Patel played a role in reframing their position.

None of them had said publicly that they wanted a pardon, and it’s not clear any of them would have accepted one. But some top Democrats, like Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, had endorsed the notion of preemptively pardoning prosecutors, particularly Smith.

In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda.”

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Monday that it had fired more than a dozen employees who worked on Jack Smith’s criminal prosecutions of President Trump, moving rapidly to pursue retribution against lawyers involved in the investigations and signaling an early willingness to take action favorable to the president’s personal interests.