The FBI fired at least six agents who worked with Special Counsel Jack Smith, only to quickly restore employment Monday for some of them who are pursuing a high-priority public corruption investigation for DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
But between two to four of the fired agents who were told to come back to work Tuesday were then terminated and walked out of the building a second time later that day, said three people familiar with the situation.
The tumult inside the FBI’s Washington Field Office is consistent with the widespread punishment of Justice Department personnel this year who the Trump administration has cast as partisans.
The latest moves prompted strong criticism Tuesday against Director Kash Patel from an advocacy organization representing 90% of active agents.
“The actions yesterday—in which FBI Special Agents were terminated and then reinstated shortly after, and then only to be fired again today—highlight the chaos that occurs when long-standing policies and processes are ignored,” the FBI Agents Association said in a statement. “Director Patel has disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution.”
US Attorney Pirro, who like Patel is a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, deemed the temporarily reinstated FBI agents important to an ongoing public corruption case—the nature of which isn’t known—added the individuals, who spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation.
Spokespeople for Pirro and Patel didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The initial two agents fired Oct 31, who like the others had been involved in Smith’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, were never reinstated. The firings, which continued into this week, respond to outcry from Republicans on Capitol Hill over Sen.
“Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,” Grassley said at a press conference Oct. 29.
But the FBI Agents Association, which has become increasingly vocal of late in criticizing Patel’s leadership, defended agents for performing tasks that were assigned to them.
“FBI agents deal in facts, and we urge Director Patel to do the same,” the FBIAA statement added. “FBI Agents must be free to focus on protecting the American people, not fear losing their jobs over third party social media posts.”
The firings of line agents comes directly after Patel’s outrage over public attention about his personal travel to visit his girlfriend led him to force out a highly-ranked official who ran the bureau’s critical incident response group.
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