WASHINGTON– Three former FBI officials who were dismissed last month have filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully firing them as part of a “campaign of retribution” against agents who refused to show political loyalty to former President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names the FBI, FBI Director Kash Patel, the Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Executive Office of the President, and the federal government as defendants.
According to the complaint, the officials were terminated on August 8 through “cursory, single-page letters” that allegedly violated both federal law and the Constitution. The plaintiffs argue that they were punished for resisting efforts to politicize the bureau, despite decades of service.
“Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people,” the complaint states. It further claims that the dismissals weakened national security by removing senior leaders with extensive experience in counterterrorism and violent crime prevention.
One of the plaintiffs, Brian J. Driscoll, briefly served as acting FBI director earlier this year. The complaint alleges that in January, Driscoll was ordered to provide a list of FBI employees tied to investigations involving Trump, including the January 6 Capitol riot. Under pressure, Driscoll submitted roughly 6,000 names.
The filing contends that Patel later declared all employees connected to those cases would be removed, regardless of retirement eligibility, telling Driscoll that “the FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.”
The FBI has previously investigated Trump over Russian interference in the 2016 election, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the 2022 probe into classified documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has long insisted that those investigations were politically motivated, frequently denouncing them as a “witch hunt.”
The case is expected to test claims of political retaliation within one of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agencies. (Source: IANS)
