Ex-FBI officials sue Kash Patel, allege he fired agents who probed Trump

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday (local time) on behalf of Brian Driscoll, Steven Jensen, and Spencer Evans, accusing Patel of politicising the agency to protect his own job

Three ex-senior officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have filed a lawsuit against FBI Director Kash Patel and the US President Donald Trump's administration, after they were fired last month, CNN reported.

 

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday (local time) on behalf of Brian Driscoll (former acting FBI director), Steven Jensen (assistant director in charge of the Washington field office), and Spencer Evans (who led the Las Vegas field office), accusing Patel of politicising the agency to protect his own job.

 

The lawsuit mentions: “Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritise politicising the FBI over protecting the American people.” The three fired FBI officials sought to have their firings declared illegal and to be reinstated to their posts, along with back pay.

 

Here’s what the lawsuit alleges 

The 68-page complaint, for the first time, presents first-hand accounts from senior FBI officials about the turbulent first weeks of Trump’s second term. According to the complaint, Driscoll and other top officials resisted attempts to fire or punish FBI agents and employees solely for their involvement in criminal investigations of Trump.

 

Earlier in August, Patel told Driscoll that his bosses “had directed him to fire anyone who they identified as having worked on a criminal investigation against President Donald J Trump,” the lawsuit stated. It further added, “The FBI tried to put the President in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it.”

 

Driscoll, Jensen, and Evans were dismissed through one-page emails that Patel sent to subordinates, who were then instructed to deliver the termination letters to their own bosses, the lawsuit states.

 

The complaint also mentioned that Patel’s decision to politicise the agency degrades America’s national security by firing the three most experienced operational leaders, each of them an expert in preventing terrorism and reducing violent crime.

 

Other lawsuits against Trump admin 

The lawsuit against Patel and the Trump administration comes amid scores of other complaints, alleging politically-motivated firings from the Trump administration across agencies, which included the recent high-profile firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.

 

Patel concerned about his social media profile 

According to the CNN report, the complaint says Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino focused on their social media image and the response of Trump allies online. But it adds that false claims on those same accounts ultimately led to their dismissals.

 

Trump slams criminal proceedings against him 

Trump has repeatedly slammed the criminal proceedings against him and blamed his predecessor Joe Biden’s administration for the alleged weaponisation of the Department of Justice. 

In a speech earlier this year, Trump said, “Our predecessors turned the Department of Justice into the Department of Injustice”, adding, “I stand before you today to declare that those days are over, and they are never going to come back.”