FBI fires special agent who helped oversee Trump investigation, sources say

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Oct 31, 2025, 12:05 AM ET


The FBI has fired a special agent who previously helped oversee public corruption cases, including an investigation that became part of former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into President Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the matter — another apparent casualty of the Trump administration’s retribution push.

Aaron Tapp, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Antonio office, was previously the deputy assistant director of the Criminal Investigative Division at FBI headquarters. There for a time he had oversight of probes into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

One of these investigations — known as Arctic Frost — focused on the fake electors scheme, in which Trump allies sought to have Trump electors counted as electoral college votes from states that Joe Biden won.

In recent weeks, Republicans have released FBI records showing details of the Arctic Frost investigation and accused Smith and FBI leaders of political motives in using grand jury subpoenas to obtain phone records of nine GOP lawmakers. The records, obtained in 2023, covered four days surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot . The FBI didn’t obtain the contents of the calls. Smith has denied any political motives and said the subpoenas were routine investigative tools. Tapp has been with the FBI for more than 20 years, according to his bio on the FBI’s website.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/30/politics/fbi-fires-agent-trump-investigations