An FBI police car stands outside FBI headquarters, days after the Trump administration launched a sweeping round of cuts at the Justice Department, in Washington, U.S., February 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo [1/3]An FBI police car stands outside FBI headquarters, days after the Trump administration launched a sweeping round of cuts at the Justice Department, in Washington, U.S., February 3, 2025. FBI has reassigned staff in domestic terrorism section Probes no longer tagged as tied to violent extremism Moves follow Republican criticism of earlier efforts WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters) – The FBI has cut staffing in an office focused on domestic terrorism and has scrapped a tool used to track such investigations, in a shift that could undermine law enforcement’s ability to counter white supremacists and anti-government extremists, according to sources familiar with the matter. The moves, sources said, are an indication that domestic terrorism investigations, which in recent years have largely involved violence fueled by right-wing ideologies, may be less of a priority under FBI Director Kash Patel, a prominent critic of the effort. Some sources said the changes will reduce the FBI’s ability to monitor threats posed by white supremacists and militia groups and potentially hamper law enforcement’s ability to disrupt plots. The moves come despite repeated warnings from U.S. officials in recent years that domestic violent extremists present some of the most significant security threats to the United States. “There is a broader desire I think within the administration to at best ignore data and put their head in the sand and at worst to realign resources away from this battle,” said Jacob Ware, an expert on domestic terrorism at the Council on Foreign Relations. (…) The FBI has also discontinued a practice of tagging investigations with a connection to domestic terrorism, two of the sources said. The tags were an important tool in helping the bureau identify trends and track relevant probes across the country.
via reuters: Exclusive: FBI scales back staffing, tracking of domestic terrorism probes, sources say