- The DOJ has accused FBI leadership of “insubordination” after acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll failed to hand over information about agents involved in Jan. 6 investigations. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed FBI leadership to identify those agents after repeated requests were ignored.
- Meanwhile, FBI agents have filed lawsuits seeking to protect their identities due to concerns about retaliation.
- Bove emphasized that only those who acted with “corrupt intent” or “defied orders” would face consequences.
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The Justice Department is accusing FBI leadership of “insubordination” after acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll failed to release information about the agents involved in Jan. 6 investigations.
On President Donald Trump’s first day back in the White House, he signed an executive order granting the Justice Department authority to review Jan. 6 prosecutions and “identify any instances where a department’s or agency’s conduct appears to have been contrary to the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the president.”
Critics of Trump’s actions have warned that this could lead to the firing of more than 4,000 federal agents who were following orders.
According to an internal memo by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, during the week of Jan. 27, he asked acting FBI leadership multiple times to identify the core FBI team that investigated the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, Fox News reports.
“FBI acting leadership refused to comply,” Bove wrote in the memo. “That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025, memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021.”
Bove continued, “Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties. The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025, memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”
Earlier this week, a group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit seeking to block their identities from being publicly released. They fear retaliation from Trump supporters and allies. The Center for Employment Justice filed a separate lawsuit to protect the agents’ names.
When Trump was asked earlier this week whether the FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 cases would be fired, he did not provide a direct answer. Instead, he described the FBI as “corrupt.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the FBI has a political bias against him, particularly after federal agents executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago home in August 2022. That search was meant to investigate allegations that Trump retained classified documents after leaving office.
