WASHINGTON - The FBI's Washington field office is folding its federal public corruption squad, which assists Jack Smith inquiry into the current President Donald Trump, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The FBI's Washington Field Office has three departments working on public corruption, but this office (called internally "CR15") is deeply involved in the bureau's "Arctic Frost" investigation, which pioneered Smith's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The investigation eventually led to two federal criminal cases against Trump, both of which were dropped after Trump was elected.

The FBI special agent assigned to the team will be reassigned.

In a major shift in FBI resources to immigration enforcement, the department’s closure measures are primarily the responsibility of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a region that is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Two people familiar with the matter said the top leaders of the FBI's Washington field office were also recently reassigned.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department cut its public integrity department, which also engages in public corruption cases. Members of the department resigned after refusing to sign a case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The judge will eventually take down the case against Adams, adding conditions designated by the Trump administration: He said the Justice Department will not allow cases to be resumed later because it will allow the administration to exploit the mayor.

“It’s another sign that it’s an open season for political corruption,” said Stacey Young, executive director and founder of the Department of Justice’s workforce network. "The government has sabotaged the public integrity department, sterilized the U.S. Attorney's Office in the D.C., and is now closing the FBI's outstanding federal public corruption team. This is not what voters think when they hear 'drowning swamps.''"

A FBI spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, R-IOWA and Ron Johnson, chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee, R-Wis. The work of CR15 was recently reviewed, writing to FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General PAM Bondi.

"My oversight has shown time and time again how the FBI's CR-15 division was carried out by weapons, weapons, and especially political attacks against President Trump and his allies," Grassley said in a statement. "This is good news, it has been shut down after it exposed the department for its misconduct. Transparency brings responsibility and the FBI must ensure that all records will be retained as my investigation continues."

The investigation into overturning the 2020 election results was launched in April 2022, before Trump announced that he announced his presidential election in 2024. After Trump launched the campaign, then-Merrick Garland appointed Merrick Garland as special counsel at the end of 2022, saying that the outsider's investigation was in the public interest rather than the president, rather than Garland, and was appointed as Garland.

Trump was indicted in August 2023, but his trial was delayed, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling that gave Trump immunity to his formal action.

Smith published a report saying Trump “inspired his supporters to commit physical violence in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Trump intentionally spread an objective and false narrative about election fraud in the 2020 election.