A top FBI official reportedly sent a letter to employees in his field office warning that the Bureau is in “a battle of our own” as President Donald Trump seeks to clean house at the agency.
The Justice Department on Friday reportedly ordered the FBI to gather the names of agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building. The agency has already fired a number of prosecutors who participated in the convictions of about 1,500 people who were present at the Capitol on that day.
James E. Dennehy, the top agent at the FBI’s New York field office, told staff that they “find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and F.B.I. policy,” according to The New York Times.
The email, viewed by The New York Times, came after the Justice Department ordered the F.B.I. on Friday to collect the names of bureau personnel who helped investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, raising the possibility that Mr. Trump’s political appointees plan to purge career bureau officials, including rank-and-file field agents. That number could reach 6,000 — or about a sixth of the bureau’s 38,000 employees, according to the F.B.I.
Dennehy asked staff members to stay calm and affirmed that he did not intend to resign, saying it was “Time for me to dig in.”
The New York Times also reported that the top agent in the Bureau’s Seattle officer sent a similar email to his staff, saying he has “not been fired or asked to resign, nor have I received any indication I might be.”
This comes after FBI leadership sent a questionnaire over the weekend to ascertain the level of involvement various agents had in arresting J6ers, The Washington Post reported.
The online questionnaire landed in inboxes a day after the FBI’s acting director said the bureau would conduct a broad examination, at the request of the Justice Department, of anyone who touched the sprawling Jan. 6. investigation.
It is the latest sign that the Trump administration aims to deliver on its promises to make dramatic changes in the FBI and the Justice Department and root out people who President Donald Trump or his allies claim acted inappropriately. The survey and other recent moves prompted a letter late Sunday from a team of high-profile lawyers to acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, threatening legal action if FBI or Justice Department personnel are fired without due process.
Managers were instructed to tell the agents to complete the questionnaire by 3 p.m. on Monday.
The questionnaire asks whether agents “collected evidence, provided support services, interviewed witnesses, executed search warrants or testified at trial,” The Washington Post reported.
Acting Deputy Director Robert C. Kissane assured employees that the leadership “do not view anyone’s identification on the list as an indicator of any misconduct” and that they are “still working with D.O.J. to better understand the purpose for which the list is being sought.”
Questions that employees must answer include their current title and their title when they worked on a Jan. 6 case. They are also asked if they were involved in the arrest of a Jan. 6 suspect, testified at a trial, interviewed witnesses, conducted surveillance on suspects and more.
It’s unclear how top FBI officials will use the results of the questionnaire. But many FBI personnel involved in the Jan. 6 investigations, as well as the federal criminal probes related to Trump, were told by supervisors last week that they could be terminated imminently, according to people familiar with the personnel conversations.
Right now, it is unclear how the DOJ and the Trump administration plan to act on the information they receive from the questionnaire. But it is apparent that the president seeks accountability within the FBI’s ranks – especially after the pervasive political bias that has presented itself over the past decade.
It is obvious that the Bureau is in dire need of accountability. Hopefully, President Trump won’t limit his scrutiny to the agency’s conduct related to the Jan. 6 riot. The FBI has been a corrupt organization since its inception, often being used to target political opponents and advance political agendas.
The reality is that no federal law enforcement agency should be empowered to go after American citizens based on their politics. The agency is in need of a serious overhaul. If this cannot happen, perhaps it is time to listen to those who advocate for abolishing the agency, as entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy proposed during the past election season.
Americans should never have to fear that their government will target them for prosecution because of their deeply held political beliefs. Perhaps the weaponization era in the FBI could be coming to an end.