WASHINGTON — Three former top FBI officials sued FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, saying their firings were mandated by the White House and Department of Justice and that Patel followed their orders to keep his job.
“Patel acknowledged that this would be in direct violation of internal FBI processes,” the lawsuit says.
For instance, it alleges that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino ordered Jensen to fire a specific agent who was a target of the Trump White House.
According to the suit, Driscoll declined to answer all of the questions that he considered inappropriately political.
A former FBI agent, Michael Clark, also vouched for Driscoll and Robert Kissane, who was appointed acting deputy director.
WASHINGTON — Three former top FBI officials filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, claiming that Patel complied with their directives to remain in his position and that their terminations were ordered by the Department of Justice and the White House.
Patel “explained that his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President, so he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire,” according to the lawsuit. Since “the FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it,” Patel clarified that neither he nor Driscoll could stop these or any other firings. ‘”.
The lawsuit also claims that Patel told Driscoll that “all FBI employees who they identified who had worked on the cases against President Trump would be removed from their jobs, regardless of their retirement eligibility status,” indicating that the firings were retaliatory. “.”.
Patel, a Trump supporter and former White House and DOJ official, allegedly told Driscoll that he was aware that such dismissals went against FBI regulations that shield agents from termination or other forms of retaliation for working on particular investigations.
The lawsuit claims that Patel admitted that this would be a clear violation of internal FBI procedures. “He reiterated that he was aware that the summary firings were probably unlawful and that he might face legal action and subsequent deposition. “,”.
Patel’s testimony at his Senate confirmation hearing would be directly at odds with the private remarks that are alleged in the lawsuit. Patel assured senators during his oath of office that “all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.”. “.”.
Driscoll, former assistant director in charge of the Washington field office Steven Jensen, and former special agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office Spencer Evans filed the lawsuit. NPR and MSNBC were the first to report on the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, some agents were specifically targeted for termination. For instance, it claims that Jensen was directed to fire a particular agent who was a target of the Trump White House by Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino.
During Jack Smith and Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigations into Trump, the agent, Walt Giardina, had contributed. However, according to the lawsuit, Giardina, who was well-liked by other agents, had looked into other public corruption cases involving both Republicans and Democrats.
Test of political loyalty.
In addition, the lawsuit claims that Driscoll was subjected to what he perceived as a political loyalty test during the Trump transition team’s screening process for him to be considered as acting deputy FBI director.
In recent elections, Driscoll said he was asked which candidate he had supported, including if he had supported any Democrats. Moreover, he was asked if he supported holding “accountable” the agents who looked for classified documents on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. “.”.
Patel subsequently informed Driscoll that if he wanted to work at the FBI headquarters, he would have to pass a review by the transition team. Patel stated that “the’vetting’ would not be an issue as long as Driscoll did not donate to the Democratic Party, vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, or use social media extensively,” according to the lawsuit. “.”.
The suit alleges that Driscoll refused to respond to all of the inquiries because he believed they were improperly political. Because Emil Bove, who was then expected to serve as acting deputy attorney general, believed Driscoll could be trusted, he was ultimately appointed to the position of acting director. Additionally, Driscoll and Robert Kissane, the acting deputy director, were endorsed by Michael Clark, a former FBI agent.
Bove’s quest to locate Jan. There are six investigators.
Later, Bove was instrumental in executing what the lawsuit claims were retaliatory terminations. A week following Trump’s inauguration, Bove allegedly informed Driscoll that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller was pressuring him to fire FBI employees on the same scale that Bove had done in the Justice Department.
Bove requested that Driscoll and Kissane provide him with a list of every FBI employee connected to the Jan investigation during a meeting in late January. 6. 2021, assault on the U.S. A. capitol. The lawsuit claims that Bove also requested the names of a “core case team,” but there was none.
Driscoll stated that the investigations had involved thousands of FBI agents and cautioned that the FBI staffers on the list “would potentially face threats” if such “a list were ever leaked or made public. According to the lawsuit, Bove responded by saying he thought the FBI was experiencing “cultural rot.”.
Kissane and Driscoll stated that they would not give Bove the list unless they were given a valid reason to do so. According to the suit, Bove retorted that “he was above Driscoll and Kissane in the chain-of-command,” “he was giving them a direct order to provide the list of names,” and “he could terminate FBI personnel even in the absence of an allegation of misconduct.”. “.
Driscoll and Kissane assembled and delivered the list after conferring with the FBI’s legal counsel.
The focus of Bongino on social media.
The lawsuit also claims that Bongino, who was appointed deputy director this year after serving as a Secret Service agent and then as a pro-Trump podcaster, prioritized certain politically significant investigations.
On the morning of January, Bongino requested updates from Jensen regarding the hunt for the person responsible for planting a pipe bomb. 6. the source who leaked the ruling of the Supreme Court that reversed Roe v. Wade, as well as the Biden administration’s cocaine discovery in the White House.
According to the lawsuit, Bongino regularly brought up those three cases both internally and in interviews with the media and on social media.
According to the lawsuit, “Jensen became alarmed at Bongino’s intense focus on increasing online engagement through his social media profiles in an effort to change his followers’ perception of the FBI” during some briefings. Jensen was worried that Bongino might prioritize content creation for his social media pages over more thoughtful evaluations of research. “..”.
Evans, Jensen, and Driscoll want a federal judge to declare their FBI termination “a legal nullity,” hold a “name-clearing hearing,” and restore their employment.
To comment on the lawsuit, the FBI declined. A request for comment was not immediately answered by a Justice Department representative.
