Purges at FBI, DOJ trigger ‘battle’ for career staff
by Rebecca Beitsch - 02/04/25 6:00 AM ET
File – President Donald Trump departs the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington, en route to Florida. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Trump administration has removed dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials and is eyeing firing perhaps thousands more in an unprecedented purge that may just be getting started.
Trump critics feared he would use the two agencies to carry out retribution against his perceived political enemies.
Some of the first actions from the new leadership at the FBI and DOJ have targeted those who worked on President Trump’s two criminal prosecutions as well as agents and lawyers involved in charging the 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, who have since been pardoned by the president.
James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said the agency was in a battle of its own.
“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy,” he said in an email reported by The New York Times.
The Trump administration on Friday forced out the five highest career positions at the FBI along with the heads of numerous field offices, including the leader in Washington, D.C.
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Agents who worked on Trump’s two criminal cases were also escorted out of the building.
And at the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C., multiple outlets reported that approximately two dozen prosecutors who worked on some of the 1,500 Jan. 6 cases were fired.
The week prior, the Justice Department fired more than a dozen prosecutors who previously worked on Trump’s Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago cases, specifically citing their work on those cases. Other top career prosecutors have also recently been reassigned and demoted.
FBI leadership also has been asked to turn over a list of its agents who worked on cases involving the 1,500 Jan. 6 cases — putting at risk some 2,400 agents who worked on the largest prosecutorial undertaking in DOJ history.
“We understand that this request encompasses thousands of employees acros
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