FBI Director Kash Patel closed the agency’s surveillance watchdog unit, according to a Tuesday report by The New York Times (NYT).

The bureau’s Office of Internal Auditing ensured compliance with surveillance regulations, specifically concerning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), officials familiar told NYT.

“The FBI’s Office of Internal Auditing is not being shut down; it is being moved to the Inspection Division which is responsible for internal reviews of FBI policies, programs, and investigations to ensure they fully comply with our authorities. Oversight is important to the FBI, and we will continue to work with DOJ’s National Security Division for FISA review. The FBI is committed to ensuring that we are fully compliant with querying standards,” the FBI told the Daily Caller in a statement.

The assistant director of that department, Cindy Hall, has retired, according to the outlet. While a former official was informed she was “forced out,” another source familiar told NYT the FBI described her exit to Congress as “voluntary.”

Prior to the reported closure, Hall was working to onboard workers to expand the office’s operations, according to NYT.

The watchdog’s closure is part of a broader restructuring, people familiar told the outlet. The office’s functions, along with The Office of Integrity and Compliance, “have been absorbed by the inspection division,” NYT reported.

Intelligence agencies like the FBI maintain that FISA is a necessary tool to counter threats. However, the FBI has been accused of abusing its FISA powers.

The agency relied on the now-debunked Steele dossier to obtain FISA warrants to surveille Carter Page, a former aide of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) office of the inspector general discovered “significant inaccuracies” in the FBI’s FISA warrant applications to surveille Page, according to a 2019 report.

Patel played a key role in an investigation into the FBI’s FISA warrants and the Steele dossier when he worked on Capitol Hill.

Section 702 of FISA was used almost 300,000 times between 2020 and early 2021, according to 2023 court documents. (RELATED: Kash Patel Announces FBI Is Leaving J. Edgar Hoover Building)

The bureau ran 23,132 inquiries after January 6, 2021, and Section 702 was used on January 6 suspects, congressional campaign donors and BLM protesters arrested in the riots following George Floyd’s death, court documents revealed.

Section 702, intended for foreign surveillance, has been criticized for allowing the warrantless surveillance of American citizens.

The Senate voted to extend FISA in April 2024.

The number of queries the FBI has made on Americans has decreased substantially.

The FBI made 5,518 queries related to Section 702 from Dec. 2023 to Nov. 2024, according to a May report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

In contrast, the FBI had about 57,094 queries the previous year.

Patel has criticized FISA abuses and indicated the bureau will be more transparent going forward.

In an interview Sunday morning with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, Patel said former heads of the FBI “intentionally failed the American public” regarding the bureau’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.

Previous FBI leadership like James Comey manipulated the FISA process to try and rig a Presidential election, and then lied about it to hide the truth. We’re now here to clean it up and the American people are about to see a wave of transparency. pic.twitter.com/QIAPWtRChs

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) May 18, 2025

“Previous FBI leadership like James Comey manipulated the FISA process to try and rig a Presidential election, and then lied about it to hide the truth,” Patel tweeted Sunday.

“We’re now here to clean it up and the American people are about to see a wave of transparency,” he added.

Editor’s Note: The story and headline have been updated to reflect the FBI’s statement.