Trump's threats to fire FBI agents who worked on the Capitol riot investigation have sparked anxiety and concern within the bureau. Despite a legal agreement preventing the release of agents' names, Trump's actions have raised fears of retaliation and a chilling effect on future investigations.
Earlier Friday, FBI agents and the Justice Department reached an agreement to avoid publication of a list of agents who had worked on Capitol riot investigations. 'I will fire some of them,' Trump said, in answer to a reporter’s question at a news conference in Washington with the Japanese prime minister. He added: 'We had some corrupt agents, and those people are gone or they will be gone, and it will be done quickly and very surgically.
' No evidence has surfaced publicly of any misconduct by FBI personnel who investigated Jan. 6 cases, and the vast majority of them resulted in convictions, before Trump. Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll has told his workforce in recent days that they cannot legally be fired without due process. \The FBI had won a legal agreement prohibiting anyone in the government from publicly releasing the names of the thousands of FBI employees who participated in Jan. 6 cases. The agreement came after Driscoll told his employees that the bureau had been forced to turn over the names of special agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb signing off on the agreement, which binds anyone within government from releasing the names of the agents who worked on cases related to the 2021 Capitol riot, while a lawsuit over the issue makes its way through the court system. Nearly three weeks after Trump granted sweeping clemency to rioters convicted for the crimes they committed at the U.S. Capitol, anxiety remains high within the bureau. Multiple sources told NBC News that while there was some internal division over the past four years about the handling of Jan. 6 cases, the actions that Trump has taken against the bureau will leave a lasting mark and have brought much of the bureau’s workforce together. \At headquarters and various FBI field offices in the early days of the Trump administration. Then, FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases were Judge to pause Trump administration effort to gut USAID's workforce by thousands, had to return to the office to fill out the survey, according to Natalie Bara, the president of the FBI Agents Association. “If their goal was to paralyze law enforcement,” one federal law enforcement official told NBC News, “they’ve achieved it.” A message circulating among FBI employees and written by an FBI agent, verified by NBC News, described the pain and anger among people who feel targeted for following orders and doing their jobs. “I was assigned to investigate a potential crime,” the agent wrote. “Like all previous cases I have investigated, this one met every legal standard of predication and procedure. Without bias, I upheld my oath to this country and the Constitution and collected the facts. I collected the facts in a manner to neither prove innocence nor guilt, but to arrive at resolution.” Driscoll, who is popular within the bureau, told employees that the office of Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed him to hand over a list of names on Thursday. Driscoll wrote that, given FBI leadership’s “significant concerns” about the personal safety and security of FBI employees, the lists were provided “on the classified enclave” and had been labeled as sensitive law enforcement information. Prosecutors and FBI special agents who worked Jan. 6 cases had already been targeted, and the bureau had worked to give employees tools to protect their personal information and protect themselves from harassment. Early on in the Jan. 6 investigation, initial FBI affidavits redacted the names of FBI special agents to help avert harassment. Inside the FBI, as bureau employees worried about mass firings, they were also concerned that the public release of the names of FBI agents would continue a pattern they’d seen develop before. “We also reiterated once again our concerns for the safety of our personnel, and the risks posed to you and your families should the lists become public,” Driscoll wrote in the letter to FBI employees. \For now, Driscoll has won praise from within the bureau for standing up to Trump’s Justice Department leadership. Several sources said the chaos within the bureau has been distracting, with one saying things hadn’t felt this unstable since the Capitol was attacked, which kicked off perhaps the largest investigation in FBI history. One FBI official said that Thursday was the first day that felt relatively normal at the bureau, with many people “exhausted” from the back and forth. The bureau and its employees aren’t “out of the woods yet,” they said, and many employees are worried they are going to be targeted not due to allegations of wrongdoing but because the cases they worked happened to have supporters of the president as defendants. The source said that the message that the Justice Department under Trump has been sending is that no one should work cases involving anyone associated with Trump. “The chilling effect has been crazy,” the official said
FBI Capitol Riot Trump Justice Department Law Enforcement Political Turmoil
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
FBI Agents Sue Over Justice Department's Probe Into Agents Involved in Trump-Related InvestigationsFBI agents who participated in investigations related to President Donald Trump have filed a class-action lawsuit against the Justice Department, alleging that efforts to compile a list of their identities are retaliatory and intended to intimidate them.
Read more »
Trump Threatens to Fire FBI Agents Involved in Capitol Riot CasesPresident Trump stated his intention to dismiss FBI personnel involved in the Capitol riot investigations, alleging corruption without providing evidence. This announcement follows a legal agreement prohibiting the release of names of FBI employees who participated in the Jan. 6 cases. The agreement came after Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll informed his workforce that they could not be legally fired without due process.
Read more »
Trump Threatens FBI Agents Involved in Capitol Riot InvestigationsFormer President Trump threatened to fire FBI agents who worked on the investigation of the January 6th Capitol riot, despite no evidence of misconduct. This came after a group of FBI agents sued the Justice Department to prevent the release of their names, which the DOJ sought following a directive from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. The agreement to protect the agents' identities was signed by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb. The situation has caused anxiety and internal division within the FBI, with many agents feeling targeted for doing their jobs.
Read more »
Trump Administration Targets FBI Agents Involved in January 6th and Trump InvestigationsThe Trump administration is reportedly planning to remove dozens of FBI agents who worked on investigations related to the January 6th Capitol attack and former President Trump. The purge highlights Trump's vow to retaliate against the Justice Department and FBI, which he claims have been weaponized against him. Agents involved in investigations of Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents and the Capitol riot face potential termination or resignation.
Read more »
Trump administration moving to fire FBI agents involved in investigations of Trump, AP sources sayTrump administration officials are moving to fire FBI agents engaged in investigations involving President Donald Trump in the coming day.
Read more »
Trump Administration to Fire FBI Agents Involved in Trump InvestigationsThe Trump administration is reportedly planning to fire several FBI agents involved in investigations targeting former President Trump. Citing anonymous sources, The Associated Press said the move is expected in the coming days, though the exact number of agents to be fired remains unknown. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he has been unfairly targeted in these investigations, calling them 'witch hunts.' The investigations include inquiries into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a classified documents case, and the January 6th Capitol riot.
Read more »