A former FBI agent who declined to approve a search warrant targeting the right-wing group Patriot Front has won a legal battle to make documents related to the case public.

Zach Schoffstall, who served as a supervisory special agent in the FBI’s Salt Lake City Division, said he was removed from the bureau during the Biden-Harris administration after refusing to participate in the case.

FBI whistleblower Zach Schoffstall was forced out of the FBI after refusing to sign off on a search warrant into a right-wing “domestic extremist” group.

The government fought to keep those docs out of the public eye — until now.

The warrant and affidavit were recently… pic.twitter.com/BnmXVbBIRE

— Eireann (Erin) Van Natta (@evannatta1776) March 31, 2025

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Empower Oversight, a legal group representing whistleblowers, filed a motion requesting the release of the warrant.

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According to Schoffstall, the government complied after 90 days and released the document. The only redaction was the name of the supervisory agent.

The warrant was tied to the 2022 arrest of 31 Patriot Front members who were charged with conspiracy to riot after protesting an LGBT event in Idaho.

Schoffstall told the Daily Caller that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Idaho and the FBI pressured him to sign the warrant but he refused.

He also said federal officials sought other agents, including one unfamiliar with the investigation, to authorize the request.

“It is my opinion based on the facts known to me that the FBI, DOJ, and Idaho US Attorney’s Office sought to conceal this search warrant from me because it would be factual evidence in support of my whistleblower complaints to Congress and my administrative complaints against the government,” Schoffstall said in March.

The unsealed affidavit supported a search of the electronic devices belonging to members of Patriot Front. It attempted to establish links between the group and events including the 2017 Charlottesville rally and the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The affidavit claimed that Vanguard America, a group associated with the Charlottesville rally, eventually became Patriot Front, although Patriot Front was formed after the rally.

James Fields, the driver who killed a counter-protester in Charlottesville, was seen carrying a shield with Vanguard America’s logo.

Vanguard America denied any connection to Fields.

The George Washington University Program on Extremism has stated that Vanguard America fractured after the rally and that Thomas Rousseau, a participant in the Charlottesville march, founded Patriot Front afterward.

The affidavit also cited training videos posted to the Patriot Front website, characterizing them as “military-type drills.”

It further noted that Patriot Front members carried shields during the Idaho protest, drawing a connection to shield use during the Capitol riot.

Schoffstall referenced an email from the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division indicating that Rousseau “did not want to participate in violence” and removed members who violated that standard.

According to Schoffstall’s declaration, the FBI was aware of Patriot Front’s “distasteful but constitutionally protected protest activity, and the efforts by its leadership to prevent and avoid acts of violence by its members.”

A summary for FBI Executive Management dated June 16, 2022, stated that the group was formed for lawful First Amendment activities: “The group subscribes to Racially Motivated Violent Extremism ideology but is not formed for an unlawful purpose.”

Despite that assessment, Schoffstall said his refusal to authorize the warrant led to his dismissal.

“I also believe that the FBI, DOJ, and US Attorney’s office knew what they did was wrong and they had misled the court with their affidavit,” he said.

“I believe they sought to keep this affidavit from the state criminal case discovery process to both deny me an attempt to secure a copy and to prevent legal and public scrutiny of their affidavit.”

The cases brought against Patriot Front members led to minimal outcomes. Rousseau’s case never went to trial, and others received minor penalties.

Some were jailed for a few days and fined $1,000, while 20 others accepted plea deals with no fines, according to East Idaho News.

Schoffstall stated that he did not support the group’s views but believed the investigation presented constitutional issues. He alleged that exculpatory evidence known to the FBI was excluded from the affidavit submitted to the court.

The Biden-Harris administration identified domestic extremism as a national priority, launching the National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in 2021.

Following President Trump’s return to office, Attorney General Pam Bondi created a Weaponization Working Group on her first day.

The group will investigate federal actions during the previous administration, including the FBI’s memo targeting Catholic Americans and prosecutions of pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

FBI Director Kash Patel has committed to addressing internal weaponization, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has announced plans to depoliticize the intelligence community.

“I believe the DOJ should make good on its promise to set up a weaponization task force to investigate allegations of abuse by members of the DOJ, US Attorney’s Offices, the FBI and other organizations within the DOJ’s purview,” Schoffstall said.

Schoffstall also called for the reinstatement of whistleblowers who were suspended or terminated for raising concerns.

He argued that individuals like himself should be able to advise Congress and the administration on improving oversight and protecting whistleblowers.

“Further, I believe individuals such as myself should be given position and opportunity to advise the new administration and Congress on how weaponization occurs, how the system is used as the punishment, how these agencies can be improved and how whistleblowers can be protected,” he said.

Another whistleblower, former FBI agent Garret O’Boyle, told the Daily Caller he was suspended without pay after being accused of leaking to the media.

He denied the claim and said he only made protected disclosures to Congress.

When Kash Patel took office, the Patriot Front disbanded… Coincidence? pic.twitter.com/kNBei47BJ8

— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) March 30, 2025

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