FBI agents who 'simply followed orders' in Jan. 6 probes won't be fired, a Justice official says
WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI agents “who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” while investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol are not at risk of being fired, a top Justice Department official said Wednesday in a memo to the bureau workforce obtained by The Associated Press.
But the memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove also provides no reassurances for any agents found to have “acted with corrupt or partisan intent" and suggests those employees, if there any, have reason to be concerned about a highly unusual review process the Trump administration Justice Department is embarking upon to identify what it says is potential misconduct.
The message from Bove, which also accuses acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of “insubordination,” is aimed at providing a measure of clarity following days of turmoil and uncertainty inside the bureau as a result of an extraordinary Justice Department demand on Friday for the names of agents who participated in the investigations so that officials could determine whether additional personnel action was merited.
Many within the FBI had seen that request as a precursor for mass firings particularly in light of separate moves to fire members of special counsel Jack Smith's team that investigated Donald Trump, reassign senior career Justice Department officials and force out prosecutors on Jan. 6 cases and multiple top FBI executives.
Trump and his Republican allies have long accused the Biden administration Justice Department of being “weaponized” against conservatives. They have focused particular ire on prosecutions arising from the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building in a failed effort to halt the certification of the 2020 election after the Republican then-president lost to Democrat Joe Biden. On the first day of Trump's second term, he granted sweeping clemency — through pardons and sentence commutations — to more than 1,500 of the rioters who were charged.
Adding to the angst was that thousands of FBI employees who participated in investigations related to Jan. 6 were asked over the weekend to complete in-depth questionnaires about their involvement in the inquiries as the new Trump administration Justice Department weighs disciplinary actions.
FBI employees filed two lawsuits Tuesday to halt the collection and potential dissemination of names of investigators.
Bove, in his memo on Wednesday, accused Driscoll, the FBI's acting chief, of “insubordination” for resisting his request “to identify the core team” responsible for Jan. 6 investigations. After Driscoll refused to comply, Bove wrote, he broadened the request for information about all FBI employees who participated in the investigations.
Driscoll had no response to the insubordination allegation, the FBI said.
The scrutiny of career FBI agents is highly unusual given that rank-and-file agents do not select the cases they are assigned to work on and are not generally disciplined because of their participation in matters seen as politically sensitive. There’s also been no evidence any FBI agents or lawyers who investigated or prosecuted the cases engaged in misconduct.
“Let me be clear," wrote Bove, who was previously part of Trump’s legal team in his criminal cases. “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."
But, he added, "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.”
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