THE CONFIRMED RECORD
America has been at war with Iran since Operation Epic Fury began on February 28 2026. The Trump administration's own counterterrorism strategy released in May 2026 calls Iran and its proxies the greatest threat to the United States emanating from the Middle East.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz confirmed this week that Iranian operatives are active inside the United States: they have operatives here in the United States. Plots are ongoing.
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy documented 157 cases of Iranian foreign operations over the past five years including 27 plots inside the United States between 2021 and 2024.
This is the confirmed record on the domestic counterterrorism infrastructure responsible for tracking those threats.
WHAT CI-12 IS AND WHAT IT DOES
CI-12 is the FBI's elite counterintelligence unit based in the Washington Field Office. It is confirmed by the New York Sun and multiple former FBI officials to focus on global espionage, foreign intelligence operations, and international threats against America including threats from Iran.
CI-12 tracks foreign intelligence operatives on U.S. soil and disseminates that information to counterterrorism officials confirmed by CNN and CBS News.
During Trump's first term CI-12 was instrumental in tracking potential threats from the Iranian regime following the 2020 drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani confirmed by CNN.
The unit's work requires years of relationship building. Agents develop confidential informants inside communities with connections to foreign governments. That work takes years to build and cannot be quickly transferred. The source confirmed that in the intelligence community it is only the FBI that has a robust intelligence program inside the United States because the CIA cannot operate domestically.
WHAT HAPPENED TO CI-12
In late February 2026, days before Operation Epic Fury began, FBI Director Kash Patel fired at least a dozen agents and staff members from CI-12 confirmed by CNN, CBS News, and MSNBC citing multiple sources including more than half a dozen former officials.
Each agent who was fired had been involved in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation of President Trump's handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago confirmed by CNN and CBS News citing sources familiar with the matter.
FBI Director Patel claimed the agents had engaged in improper investigative steps. No evidence supporting that claim has been presented publicly, confirmed by court filings, or substantiated by any independent review confirmed by MSNBC's Carol Leonnig citing more than half a dozen sources with knowledge of the firings.
A source with direct knowledge called the firings devastating to the FBI's Iran program confirmed by CBS News. The agents who were fired had spent years building confidential informant networks in the Iranian community in the United States. That source told CBS News directly: you cannot replicate that with new agents. These sources will go away.
The FBI declined to comment on personnel matters but told CNN the bureau maintains a robust counterintelligence operation with personnel all over the country. No confirmation was provided that CI-12 was reconstituted, that replacement agents were assigned, or that the confidential informant networks were preserved.
Representatives Thompson and Magaziner wrote to Patel on March 4 2026 confirming their concern that firing these experts just days before President Trump ordered strikes on Iran raises questions about the FBI's ability to identify and counter dangerous Iranian operations on U.S. soil while the nations are at war.
THE BROADER COUNTERTERRORISM CONTEXT
The CI-12 firings occurred against a backdrop of confirmed broader changes to the FBI's counterterrorism operations.
A January 2025 Justice Department memo directed Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country to assist in executing immigration initiatives confirmed by Lawfare. Joint Terrorism Task Forces are confirmed by the FBI's own website as the nation's front line of defense against terrorism both international and domestic. Some FBI agents were told by supervisors not to document the movement of resources away from high-priority counterterrorism cases toward immigration-related work confirmed by Lawfare citing reporting on the matter.
FBI leadership reassigned counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and cyber agents back to their normal duties in June 2025 confirmed by Lawfare, months after the January 2025 memo redirected them.
The director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent resigned in March 2026. In his resignation letter confirmed by Al Jazeera, Kent wrote that he could not in good conscience support the ongoing war with Iran.
Democrats demanded that Thomas Fugate, a 22-year-old college graduate and Trump campaign worker with no national security experience appointed as Director of the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships at DHS, be called to testify before Congress following DHS's issuance of a heightened terrorism threat advisory after U.S. strikes on Iran confirmed by the House Homeland Security Committee.
THE CONFIRMED THREAT LEVEL
Three acts of ideologically inspired violence occurred in the United States within one week in March 2026 confirmed by AP: two men brought powerful homemade bombs to a protest in New York City, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon rammed his vehicle into a synagogue in Michigan, and a previously convicted terrorist opened fire in a Virginia university classroom.
A naturalized U.S. citizen killed three people and wounded 14 in an attack in Austin Texas in March 2026 that the FBI investigated as possible terrorism connected to Iranian ideology confirmed by the Global Terrorism Index 2026 supplement.
The FBI's own threat page at fbi.gov confirms Iran has previously attempted lethal operations on U.S. soil and that the bureau is actively working to thwart Iran's violent agenda including threats to current and former U.S. officials.
Ambassador Waltz confirmed this week that intelligence community and law enforcement entities are absolutely on top of the Iranian threat.
THE CONFIRMED CIVIC QUESTION
The confirmed facts are above. Every source is listed. Every claim is confirmed by AP, Reuters, CNN, CBS News, MSNBC, congressional documents, or primary government sources.
The administration's own counterterrorism strategy confirms Iran is the greatest Middle East threat to the United States. The FBI confirms Iranian operatives have previously attempted lethal operations on U.S. soil. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations confirmed this week that plots are ongoing.
The CI-12 unit that tracked Iranian threats inside the United States was confirmed to be fired days before Operation Epic Fury began. The agents who were fired had confidential informant networks in the Iranian community that sources confirm cannot be replicated with new agents. No evidence has been presented publicly to support the claim that the agents engaged in improper investigative steps.
The judgment about what those confirmed facts mean belongs to you.
Sources: CNN March 3 2026 confirmed CI-12 firing and sources familiar and FBI statement and first term tracking context, CBS News March 4 2026 confirmed devastating Iran program and cannot replicate informants and CIA domestic limitation, MSNBC Carol Leonnig March 2 2026 confirmed more than half dozen sources and gutted global espionage unit and Iran specialization and no evidence improper steps, New York Sun first confirmed CI-12 employees targeted and unit focus global espionage Iran Cuba media leaks, Lawfare March 17 2026 confirmed JTTF immigration redirect memo January 2025 and some agents told not to document and June 2025 reassignment and mass exodus national security experts, AP March 14 2026 confirmed three acts violence one week New York Michigan Virginia, Representatives Thompson Magaziner March 4 2026 letter confirmed raises questions FBI ability identify counter Iranian operations, Representative Meng March 4 2026 letter confirmed personally ordered and deeply troubled and elite counterintelligence, Al Jazeera March 17 2026 confirmed Kent resignation letter and good conscience quote, Washington Times July 12 2026 confirmed Waltz operatives in U.S. plots ongoing and intelligence community on top of it, FBI fbi.gov Iran threat page confirmed lethal operations U.S. soil and working to thwart, Washington Institute Near East Policy confirmed 157 foreign operations 27 U.S. plots 54 Europe 2021-2024, Global Terrorism Index 2026 supplement confirmed Austin Texas attack March 2026, DOJ January 2025 memo confirmed JTTF immigration redirection, Trump administration counterterrorism strategy May 2026 confirmed Iran greatest threat Middle East, House Homeland Security Committee confirmed Thomas Fugate 22 years old campaign worker no national security experience DHS counterterrorism director
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