The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday raising ‘urgent concerns’ over recent actions taken by acting DOJ and FBI personnel, which they say could threaten the careers of thousands of employees and risks disrupting the bureau’s essential work.
The FBIAA, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, cited in particular the order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team, and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, as well as the order for bureau employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.
The FBIAA said the lists ‘will be used to determine whether those individuals should face additional personnel actions,’ though the Trump administration has not yet said it will move to take action against individuals involved.
Still, the group said, the recent actions taken by the Trump administration have given them reason for concern.
‘Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI,’ the group said, saying the actions both lack ‘transparency and due process,’ and ‘are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.’
President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is ‘corrupt’ and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will ‘straighten it out.’
‘I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I’m a victim of it in the true sense,’ Trump told Fox News, adding that he believes the bureau’s reputation has been ‘damaged badly, as has the DOJ’s.’
‘But you know what, we have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement,’ Trump said.
Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the actions could have an incredibly chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices, whose agents have decades of experience in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking, and more.
One retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case ‘fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,’ and that violations of federal statutes were ‘proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.’
‘While convictions may be overturned or pardoned, nothing changes the original nexus of a federal investigation,’ this person said.
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.