Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll resisted a Justice Department order to fire agents involved in the investigation of the January 6th Capitol riot, prompting concern among some FBI officials. This defiance came just after Kash Patel, Trump's nominee for FBI director, assured the Senate that no FBI officials would face political retaliation. Driscoll's memo to the FBI workforce revealed the Justice Department's attempt to remove eight senior executives and obtain a list of all FBI employees involved in the January 6th and a Hamas-related case.
Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll on Friday refused a Justice Department order that he assist in the firing of agents involved in Jan. 6 riot cases, pushing back so forcefully that some FBI officials feared he would be dismissed, multiple current and former FBI officials told NBC News. The Justice Department ultimately did not dismiss Driscoll, the head of the bureau’s Newark field office who is temporarily serving as its acting director.
Kash Patel, President Trump's pick for FBI director and a critic of the bureau's investigations of Trump and Jan. 6th rioters, will take over if he is confirmed by the Senate. During his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Patel testified under oath that no FBI officials would be retaliated against. “All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel told Senators. Just over twenty-four hours later, Driscoll sent a memo to the FBI workforce explaining that Emil Bove, the acting Deputy Attorney General and Trump's former defense lawyer, had ordered him to remove eight senior FBI executives. Driscoll also said he had been told to turn over the names of every FBI employee involved in investigating Jan. 6 rioters. Driscoll stated that the eight executives had been forced out but did not say in the memo whether he would turn over the broader list of Jan. 6-related FBI investigators — a list that he noted encompasses thousands of its employees, including him. “As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always,” Driscoll, a former member of the FBI’s elite hostage rescue team, wrote. In a message that circulated widely among bureau personnel, an FBI agent summarized what happened as: “Bottom line — DOJ came over and wanted to fire a bunch of J6 agents. Driscoll is an absolute stud. Held his ground and told WH proxy, DOJ, to F--- Off.” The FBI and the Justice Department declined to comment. A senior FBI official disputed the accounts of the current and former officials saying, “It’s not true.” A former FBI official who knows Driscoll well said, “He pushed back hard.” Agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases targeted It’s not known whether anyone other than the eight senior FBI executives have been separated from the bureau. One official familiar with the matter said that top Trump administration officials have made it clear that they want at least some of the FBI agents who pursued Jan. 6 cases to be fired, just as multiple DOJ prosecutors involved with the Jan. 6 prosecutions were fired. The official said the Trump administration wants this to happen quickly but has been told by FBI officials that misconduct allegations at the bureau involve a formal review process. The accounts of Driscoll’s actions shed new light on a chaotic series of events over the last 48 hours that began with the news that the Trump administration was seeking to purge the top ranks of the FBI’s career civil servants. “Late this afternoon, I received a memo from the acting Deputy Attorney General notifying me that eight senior FBI executives are to be terminated by specific dates, unless these employees have retired beforehand,' Driscoll wrote. 'I have been personally in touch with each of these impacted employees.' He said in the memo that he had also been directed to provide the DOJ by noon on Tuesday a list of all FBI employees involved in Capitol riot cases, and also those involved in a case against a Hamas leader. No one contacted by NBC News had a sense of the new administration’s interest in the Hamas case, but the focus on Jan. 6 was clear. The Trump administration apparently believes that all of the Jan. 6 cases should not have been brought. Since it was the largest criminal investigation in U.S. history, thousands of FBI personnel were involved, as Driscoll acknowledged in his memo. “We understand that this request encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts,” he wrote. “I am one of those employees, as is acting Deputy Director (Rob) Kissane.” FBI agents encouraged FBI agents were heartened by Driscoll's memo, a source said, which many saw as an attempt by Driscoll to make the workforce and the public aware of what he was being asked to do. “He was trying to do right by the workforce,” one person familiar with the thinking of agents told NBC News. “He’s putting it in writing and naming names.” A separate DOJ memo obtained by NBC News identified the employees who were forced out. The list included four top FBI managers: Robert Wells, who oversaw the national security branch; Ryan Young, of the intelligence branch; Robert Nordwall, of criminal and cyber response; Jackie Maguire, of science and technology. All of those people were eligible to retire and many of them did s
FBI DOJ Jan 6Th Kash Patel Brian Driscoll Political Retribution Capitol Riot Trump Administration
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