FBI agents and justice department lawyers who investigated Trump over the Jan. 6 insurrection and his illegal possession of classified documents were fired Friday night, in what is an unmistakably retaliatory purge conducted at Donald Trump’s behest.
CNN previously reported the firings were imminent.
The Hill reported that the FBI firings happened at the Washington Field Office as well as Miami, Seattle, New Orleans and Las Vegas.
The extent of the firings has not yet been revealed but alongside FBI agents an unknown number of DoJ lawyers were axed, according to multiple credible reports.
Agents were told via email that they were fired due to their role in the investigations. “This request encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts,” wrote FBI director Brian Driscoll in an email obtained by CNN.
Sen. Mark Warner, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, commented, “It is deeply alarming that the Trump administration appears to be purging dozens of the most experienced agents who are our nation’s first line of defense.”
Those who were fired Friday included top-ranking officials who head all five of the FBI’s internal branches and come a day after Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, said he “know[s] what’s going on right now” amid rumors of firings but added he was “committed to you, Senator, and your colleagues, that I will honor the internal review process of the FBI.”
The move comes days after DOJ officials who worked under former special counsel Jack Smith were also fired because the Trump Administration could no longer “trust” them. At least a dozen people who worked on Trump’s election interference case and his Mar-a-Lago records case were included.
Smith resigned from his position near the end of President Biden’s term in office after having moved to dismiss both cases against Trump without prejudice.
The retaliatory purges come just under two weeks after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 criminals who attempted to overthrow the government on his behalf on Jan. 6, 2021. For reasons that have never been adequately explained, former Attorney General Merrick Garland personally intervened to prevent Trump from being prosecuted for nearly 2 years, according to a bombshell Washington Post report.
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