Ex-FBI officials sue Kash Patel over claims they were fired for investigating Trump

Three former senior FBI officials sued its director, Kash Patel, and the federal government on Wednesday for wrongful termination, saying there had been widespread unlawful political influence at the bureau.

The three officials, Brian Driscoll Jr, Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC, asking a judge to declare their firings were illegal, reinstate them, and award them backpay.

The complaint details an episode in which Patel allegedly told Driscoll he had been instructed by the White House to fire any agent who worked on an investigation of Donald Trump.

“Patel explained that he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the president,” the complaint says. Patel explained that there was nothing he or Driscoll could do to stop these or any other firings, because “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it”.

The complaint also alleges Emil Bove, a staunch Trump ally and former top justice department official, asked Driscoll to compile a list of agents who worked on the investigation into the January 6 attack on the US capitol. When Driscoll said that the mass firing of those agents would not comply with FBI protocol and endanger national security, Bove said they would be referred to the justice department for a misconduct review.

Bove also told Driscoll, the complaint says, that he received pressure from White House aide Stephen Miller to fire agents en masse at the FBI.

The firings of the three men, each of whom had more than 20 years of experience at the FBI, was one of the most brazen examples of how Trump is politicizing and weaponizing law enforcement to target his political rivals.

“Driscoll, Jensen, and Evans were the targets of defendants’ retribution for their refusals to politicize the FBI, and they seek to vindicate their constitutional and legal rights,” the complaint says.

In a statement, Driscoll, who served as the acting FBI director after Trump’s inauguration, said: “The men and women of the FBI make countless sacrifices to accomplish the bureau’s mission: protecting the American people and upholding the constitution. That’s why it is necessary to detail the politically-motivated actions that led to our firings. The American people deserve an FBI made up of professionals who can serve righteously and confidently, with no fear of inappropriately applied pressure or wrongful termination.”