Topline
Former high-ranking FBI officials sued the bureau and director Kash Patel on Wednesday, alleging they were unlawfully terminated for challenging the Trump administration or its allies—and claiming Patel said he would be fired if he didn’t do Trump’s bidding by firing FBI officials who investigated the president.
Three former FBI officials—who served as the bureau’s former acting director, assistant director of its Washington, D.C., field office and special agent in charge of its Las Vegas office—sued Patel, the FBI, Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi in federal court, alleging their termination in August from the FBI was unlawful.
Patel “deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people” by firing the officials, they alleged in the lawsuit, claiming Patel said he knew firing FBI officials was likely illegal, but he was forced to do so by his superiors.
DOJ leadership and the White House had directed Patel “to fire anyone who they identified as having worked on a criminal investigation against President Donald J. Trump,” the ex-officials alleged, claiming Patel told one of the plaintiffs, Brian Driscoll, that he could be fired if he didn’t, and “there was nothing he or Driscoll could do to stop these or any other firings, because ‘the FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.’”
Driscoll alleged he was asked to compile lists of FBI agents who worked on the investigations against Trump when he was acting FBI director, and was later fired after he pushed Patel not to fire a longtime pilot for the FBI, who had been falsely accused on social media of signing the FBI’s search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
Another defendant, Steven Jensen, was fired after he allegedly played a role in investigations against Jan. 6 rioters, while a third, Spencer Evans, alleged he was placed on leave and then terminated due to his role approving COVID-19 vaccine exemptions for FBI officials during the pandemic.
The Trump administration violated the officials’ First Amendment rights and rights to due process by summarily firing them, they argue in their lawsuit, also alleging the terminations violate FBI guidelines that prohibit punishing officials based on their case assignments, and that Patel acknowledged to Driscoll that “the nature of the summary firings were likely illegal and that he could be sued and later deposed.”
Driscoll alleged in the lawsuit that former Acting Attorney General Emil Bove—now a federal judge—told Driscoll “an allegation of misconduct was not necessary for him to terminate FBI personnel of his choosing and at his discretion,” and Bove “intended to terminate FBI personnel if he subjectively felt a ‘loss of confidence in their ability to carry out the President’s agenda.’” When Driscoll told Bove the threat of terminations “was causing panic and anxiety in the FBI workforce and putting the FBI’s mission, and thus the safety of Americans, at risk,” Bove allegedly responded that “the creation of panic and anxiety in the workforce ‘was the intent.’”
It’s unclear how long the litigation will take to play out and how it will be resolved. The three plaintiffs are asking the court to force the FBI to “immediately reinstate” them to their former roles and prohibit the DOJ from taking any action against them without following proper procedures.
Driscoll alleged that during an interview for a higher-ranking FBI role at the start of the Trump administration, he was asked questions including who he voted for in the 2024 elections, whether he’d voted for Democrats in any of the past five elections, his thoughts on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and whether FBI agents who “stormed” Mar-a-Lago “should be held accountable.” Driscoll refused to answer questions about his political affiliations and said he was later told he “failed” the vetting interview, though he ended up still later getting promoted.
This story is breaking and will be updated.