WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (DC Times Online) — Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released unclassified FBI emails involving two proposed investigative efforts: a former agent’s attempts to join the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation in 2017 and another former agent’s request in 2025 to investigate Elon Musk.
The records have become part of Grassley’s broader criticism of the FBI and Justice Department. But they do not, by themselves, establish that either proposed effort became a criminal case. The materials also do not identify any charges, arrests, court filings or court rulings involving the former agents or Musk.
What is in the 2017 emails?
Walter Giardina, a former FBI agent, contacted members of the Crossfire Hurricane team at least seven times over about four weeks beginning in January 2017, according to the released correspondence and Grassley’s Senate Judiciary Committee statement.
On Jan. 20, 2017, Giardina wrote to FBI agent Joe Pientka: “I wanted to mention again my interest in joining the case.”
The emails show Giardina offering a potential investigative angle involving campaign fundraising. The committee’s account says that proposed line of inquiry did not advance. The records do not show that Giardina was assigned to the investigation.
Crossfire Hurricane was the FBI operation connected to its examination of matters involving Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The emails released by Grassley concern Giardina’s effort to obtain a role in that work, not a court finding that the investigation was unlawful.
What did the 2025 email say about Musk?
In February 2025, former FBI agent Kevin Gounaud sent an email seeking to begin a criminal investigation of Musk, according to the email released by the committee.
Gounaud’s stated concern involved a proposal that federal employees report five things they had accomplished at work. He questioned whether Musk’s use of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and the employee-reporting request could violate federal security policies.
The email included the line, “And no, I’m not kidding.” It also alleged that Musk had used “a non government system (twitter)” to share information that was allegedly for official purposes.
The released materials do not establish whether the FBI opened, rejected or acted on the proposed investigation. They also do not show that Musk was charged with a crime.
What is Grassley alleging?
Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said the emails demonstrate political bias inside federal law enforcement. During a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, Grassley described the records as evidence of a broader “Deep State” effort against Trump and Republicans.
“That’s arguably worse than Watergate,” Grassley said in his hearing remarks. He also said, “The overall sustained efforts by the Deep State in the dark corners of the bureaucracy is worse than anything Trump has been accused of.”
Those statements are Grassley’s interpretation of the records. The documents establish that the former agents sent the emails and made the requests described in them. They do not independently establish Grassley’s broader allegation that a coordinated “Deep State” effort existed.
What remains unclear?
The released material, as described by the committee, does not include a complete inventory of all related emails, the full redaction history or a chain of custody for the records. It also does not provide responses from Giardina, Gounaud, Pientka, Musk, the FBI or the Justice Department.
The records identify other current or former officials, including former FBI agents Timothy Thibault and Michael DeLauro, but the supplied material does not establish that either man committed a crime or was charged with one.
No court, judge, case number or charging document is identified. As a result, the emails provide evidence of investigative proposals and internal communications, not adjudicated findings of criminal conduct.
