Congressional Oversight and Trump Investigations

Marshall Yates, the FBI’s head of congressional affairs and a key liaison to Capitol Hill, is leaving the bureau, with his last day expected Friday, multiple sources told CBS News. Yates, a former GOP Hill staffer, served as one of the FBI’s representatives on the Interagency Weaponization Working Group that has been carrying out President Trump’s push for retribution against perceived political enemies, and also worked on a DOJ‑led version that dealt with Jan. 6 prosecutions and possible reinstatement of fired agents who claimed they were purged for criticizing COVID rules or Jan. 6 cases. As congressional point man, he has been central to dealings with Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, including over document releases in the FBI’s 'Arctic Frost' investigation of Trump that exposed agent Walt Giardina’s name despite internal warnings from the D.C. field office that doing so could endanger him and his terminally ill wife; Giardina was later fired. Yates previously worked for Reps. Thomas Massie and Mo Brooks and for Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network, tying him to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including Mitchell’s participation in Trump’s call pressing Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to reverse Biden’s win. His exit comes amid fierce scrutiny of FBI Director Kash Patel’s leadership, Trump’s use of 'weaponization' task forces inside DOJ and the intelligence community, and ongoing lawsuits by former senior FBI officials who say Patel and Yates ignored safety concerns while feeding agent names to Congress.