Agents 'have started to pack up their desks” as fear of FBI mass firings swirls
The acting FBI director and an FBI agents group defended bureau staffers and continued to push back on the Trump administration's recent firings of senior FBI officials.
As fear of mass firings swirls through the FBI, acting Director Brian Driscoll, the head of the bureau's New York field office, and an agents group reassured staffers and pushed back against Trump administration efforts to force out FBI officials.
The unease comes after President Donald Trump publicly praised the firings of eight top FBI career executives on Friday after pardoning nearly all the Jan. 6 rioters hours after he took office for his second term.
In a message to FBI staff members Saturday night, Driscoll, the acting director, said again that the Trump administration is seeking the names of every FBI agent who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations — a number he has said is in the thousands.
“I want to assure you that we continue to work with the Department of Justice to better understand the purpose for which the lists I referenced yesterday are being sought,” Driscoll wrote.
On Sunday afternoon, the FBI Agents Association sent employees a notice that some agents had received an email from senior officials ordering them to respond to a “12-question survey" asking about their involvement in Jan. 6 cases, according to two people who received it.
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