Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released a batch of unclassified emails between FBI agents stemming from Operation Crossfire Hurricane, a Justice Department investigation launched during the Obama administration into whether then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign was colluding with Russia during the 2016 election.

Grassley argued that the email exchanges, which included former FBI Special Agent Kevin Gounaud seeking to open an investigation into Elon Musk over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), revealed that the «Deep State» was at work to undermine Trump.

«The previous Democrat administrations under Obama and Biden conducted secret, insidious and downright evil operations that almost took down our government,» Grassley said during an Oversight hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel. «That’s arguably worse than Watergate.»

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Over the past decade, the Senate Judiciary Committee, at the direction of Grassley, has released several rounds of documents from a few FBI operations such as Operation Arctic Frost and Round River, alleging that the Justice Department was being weaponized against Trump and Republicans.

«The overall sustained efforts by the Deep State in the dark corners of the bureaucracy is worse than anything Trump has been accused of. At least he’s upfront and open so people can judge,» Grassley said.

At the center of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s most recent document release are three former FBI agents: Gounaud, Walter Giardina, who was fired by Patel in August over accusations of political weaponization, and Timothy Thibault.

Gounaud, who left the bureau in February, according to his LinkedIn, sent an email in February 2025 seeking to begin a criminal investigation of Musk. At the time, Musk was a special government employee overseeing DOGE. Gounaud’s complaint centered on Musk announcing on X his plan to have all government employees share five things they worked on that day.

«Musk used a non government system (twitter) to relate information that allegedly was for official purposes. In doing so, because he is monetized (he is a majority owner of twitter) he likely generated income for himself based on Twitter’s monetization model and/or advertising revenues,» Gounaud wrote. «His use of twitter in this and other instances is conceptually similar to Hillary Clinton’s misuse of a private email server for government business.»

Grassley later criticized the former FBI agent in a post on X.

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«Here is an email I released 2day showing an FBI agent who was ready2 open a CRIMINAL CASE all bc Elon Musk asked govt bureaucrats 2 report 5 things they did in a wk,» Grassley wrote. «Compare that 2 Iowans who work frm sunup to sundown EVERY DAY Washington rlly is an island surrounded by reality.»

The document dump also shows that Giardina emailed at least seven times over the course of four weeks beginning in January 2017 asking to be assigned to Crossfire Hurricane. The findings of the investigation were handed off to special counsel Robert Mueller a few months later in May.

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The emails show that Giardina was in correspondence with Thibault, who Grassley had accused of violating the Hatch Act. The allegation, which was investigated and dismissed by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), stemmed from Thibault resharing a post on then Twitter by the Lincoln Project, which called Trump a «psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man.»

Thibault is included in several emails sent by Giardina to former Supervising Agent Joe Pientka.

«Based on the records known to date, that case didn’t advance,» Grassley said. «His efforts, as well as the case he tried to open on Senator Sinema, undercut public statements by former FBI officials that agents don’t get to pick their cases.»

Digital reached out to the FBI for comment.

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As the Trump administration desperately tries to cut costs for Americans ahead of November’s midterm elections, one critical demographic to U.S. food supplies is becoming increasingly fed up.

President Donald Trump in August announced that the U.S. would import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef trim, well over half a billion pounds, from nations around the world, leaving some cattle ranchers in red states typically aligned with the president’s agenda uneasy heading into a high-stakes election for Republicans.

«These markets have been very volatile the last month,» Greg Gunthorp, a farm-to-table cattle farmer in northeast Indiana, told Digital. «The ranchers have lost a lot of equity. The markets are down substantially.»

‘WHY WOULD HE DO THIS TO US?’: TRUMP’S FOREIGN BEEF PUSH IS HURTING HIS BASE, REPUBLICANS WARN

Gunthorp said the current uncertainty makes it difficult to decide whether to retain heifers for breeding or sell them as feeder cattle. Complicating matters is the fact that cattle herds in the U.S. have already thinned to their lowest level in 75 years, which could spell disaster for ranchers and consumers. Part of that shortage stems from a prolonged drought that has decimated some of the Midwest herd populations.

Additionally, spiking diesel costs stemming from the war in Iran means cattle ranchers are already operating on thinner margins and being forced to raise their prices.

Jaclyn Wilson, a cattle rancher in western Nebraska, told Digital that how much of the 300,000 metric tons is actually imported, another unanswered question, is critical to assessing the impact that the Trump administration’s move will have on the industry.

TRUMP WANTS CHEAPER BEEF. REPUBLICANS IN KEY RACES WARN HIS PLAN GOES TOO FAR

«The only thing that really concerns me and continues to concern me, is that the market volatility is definitely there,» she said.

«It seems like any time that we have significant prices in the beef industry and our administration says something, we do see that market fluctuate and that can be devastating for producers that are selling calves right now or even yearling,» Wilson continued.

Wilson said she sold some yearling steers just after the announcement was made, and got $175 less per head than she would have normally.

«And that’s pretty significant for a producer,» she said.

Another common theme shared by ranchers who spoke with Digital is that they want the government to incentivize producing cattle, or at least stay out of the market and let cattle ranchers do it on their own.

BROOKE ROLLINS, MONICA CROWLEY: AMERICA’S FAMILY FARMS HAVE KEPT US STRONG FOR 250 YEARS

«You can relieve a price temporarily today, but they’re not going to put cattle back in Mississippi pastures,» said Mississippi cattle rancher Mary Jo Perry. «And that’s the problem, is that we have a cattle shortage. So, something needs to be done to encourage farmers and incentivize them, enable them to retain heifers.»

Perry, who runs a grass-fed, farm-to-table beef operation, said the White House’s policy proposal hasn’t affected her business. She sells beef to health-conscious customers who want to know that their food is high quality and that their beef was raised without feeding on corn or soy.

Wilson would just as much prefer the government to stay out the business altogether.

«I think that’s what’s so discouraging for me as a cattle producer is that I’m trying to do what my family has done for generations, and somebody else is dictating it right now, she said. «I’m not given those opportunities to make that choice, and that’s what’s really disappointing.»

NEBRASKA RANCHERS STRUGGLE TO RECOVER FROM HISTORIC WILDFIRES AS DROUGHT WORSENS CRISIS

«We talk about herd rebuilding, and that’s something this administration is also talked about — which I agree, we do need to rebuild our cowherd — but keep the government out of it,» she said. «Let it naturally happen. Mother Nature, of course, is the biggest component of that.»

Digital spoke with Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins at the GOP Midterm Convention in Dallas last week about the cattle ranching conundrum.

The secretary said she’s spoken with «hundreds and hundreds» of cattle ranchers to explain Trump’s thinking in importing beef.

«So, hearing from those ranchers directly was really important,» Rollins said. «But what we did — and we’ve already done a whole lot of pro-rancher stuff a year ago — battling for private property rights, taking out the weaponization that the left had put in against our ranchers [and] working to take their land away … so all of that was already in motion.»

TRUMP ADMIN SCRAPS ‘WEAPONIZED’ WILDLIFE RULE THAT BECAME ‘BURDEN’ ON AMERICAN FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES: BURGUM

«But what that decision, as frustrated as our ranchers were, what that decision allowed was really an opportunity for us at USDA and also work across the cabinet — which this Cabinet is very unusual in that way — to put together the most pro-rancher agenda in American history,» she continued.

On Sept. 4, 2026, Trump signed two executive orders related to cattle ranchers and beef production. One, «Supporting America’s Ranchers,» is aimed at strengthening the cattle industry by ordering federal agencies to cut red tape and regulations, expand cattle grazing and look into predator management. The latter will determine whether certain species of wolves that prey on cattle have grown enough to be delisted from endangered species lists.

On the same day, he signed another order focused on meat processing and market competition. It demands stricter enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act against unfair, deceptive or monopolistic practices in the livestock industry, along with expanding opportunities to sell meat across state lines through cooperative meat safety inspections.

«President Trump has repeatedly affirmed his support for America’s great farmers and ranchers,» White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales told Digital. «While the Administration is addressing a short-term supply crunch in the beef market, we are simultaneously working closely with ranchers to grow America’s cattle-herd size, which is currently at a multi-decade low.»

Gunthorp said the problem should have been tackled decades ago by previous administrations, but that doesn’t mean trying to fix it today won’t harm consumers or ranchers.

«Once you fix the problem that should have been attacked 30 years ago, it’s gonna cause somebody pain,» he said. «It’s gonna cause the consumer pain [or] the rancher pain. Maybe both.»

Digital reached out to the USDA for further comment but did not hear back at time of publication.

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President Donald Trump recently amplified a report about a U.S. government investigation that referred more than 100 current or former UNRWA employees over alleged ties to Hamas — as a new watchdog report accuses the U.N. agency of overstating how much it has reformed.

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The scrutiny, which included Trump sharing the report on Truth Social in August, comes as Geneva-based UN Watch released a report Monday challenging UNRWA’s claim that it has completed 41 of the 50 reforms recommended by an independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.

UN Watch says that when it compared UNRWA’s claims with what Colonna actually recommended, at most 13 of the 50 reforms had been completed as prescribed. The group argues that UNRWA repeatedly counted drafting policies, launching pilot programs or creating plans as completed reforms even when full implementation had not occurred.

UN AGENCY ACCUSED OF HAMAS TIES SEES ANOTHER EUROPEAN NATION CUT FUNDING

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United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Gaza, June 2023. (Ahmed Zakot/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

«UNRWA is grading its own homework — and giving itself credit for reforms that exist mainly on paper,» UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer told Fox News Digital. «A policy is not a reform if it is ignored, unenforced or blocked by staff unions dominated by Hamas.»

Among the examples cited in the report is staff vetting. UNRWA lists a «Commercial Vetting Pilot & Costed Plan» as completed, along with other screening measures. UN Watch argues that a pilot and implementation plan do not amount to a fully operational outside vetting system.

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The report also challenges UNRWA’s education reforms. UNRWA lists systematic textbook reviews and randomized classroom inspections among completed steps, while a policy prohibiting problematic educational content is still described as «in progress.»

Colonna herself said when presenting her review in April 2024 that some educational content remained problematic, citing «glorification of jihad,» incitement to violence and maps that did not show Israel, while calling for a zero-tolerance approach.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS MORE THAN $1B IN UN BUDGET CUTS AS REFORM PUSH GAINS MOMENTUM

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UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza on Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Pressed by Fox News Digital at Tuesday’s U.N. briefing over who independently verifies whether the reforms are actually working on the ground, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric defended the process.

«It is not just checking boxes for the sake of checking boxes,» Dujarric said, «It’s about the implementation of those things.»

Dujarric said UNRWA regularly reports to the General Assembly, holds integrity meetings open to member states and gives governments opportunities to scrutinize what the agency is doing.

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WATCHDOG DEMANDS APOLOGY AFTER UN MEMORIAL ERRONEOUSLY HONORS HAMAS TERRORIST

This picture taken during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on February 8, 2024, shows Israeli soldiers inside an evacuated compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)

Asked specifically about staff screening, he said UNRWA relies in part on countries where it operates.

«We rely on the member states also, where we operate, who have the capacity to check people to do so,» Dujarric said, adding that UNRWA shares staff lists with Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian authorities. «If there are concerns, they need to be shared directly with UNRWA. When they are, they take action.»

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The Colonna review was commissioned by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in February 2024 after allegations that UNRWA employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attacks. Guterres accepted all 50 recommendations in April 2024 and agreed with UNRWA leadership to establish an action plan to implement them.

Neuer rejected the idea that the disagreement is merely about terminology.

Heavy machinery operates as Israeli forces dismantle the Jerusalem headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in East Jerusalem, Jan. 20, 2026. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

«This is not a semantic disagreement over the meaning of ‘completed,’» he said. «UNRWA says the job is done, yet teachers tied to terrorist organizations remain in classrooms, Hamas-dominated unions obstruct discipline, and children continue to be exposed to incitement. Those are real-world consequences, not technicalities.»

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Efrat (Effie) Lachter is a reporter for Fox News Digital with more than 15 years of experience covering conflict, global affairs, human rights and political accountability. She has directed and produced more than 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries, documenting conflicts, humanitarian crises, corruption, human trafficking, gender-based violence and the human stories behind major world events. 

Lachter’s reporting has taken her into conflict zones and crisis areas across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. Her work has included uncovering human trafficking networks, revealing an ISIS underground torture prison in Syria, documenting the war in Ukraine and interviewing senior political figures and world leaders. She was also among the Western journalists who entered Russia after the war began to bring testimonies from Putin’s opposition. Lachter is the recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award and was a 2023–2024 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She also won two Rockower Awards for Excellence in Reporting. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in political science.

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