The fired employees were involved in the investigation into the handling of confidential materials of the US president and the 2020 election probe.
At least ten FBI agents were fired Wednesday in connection with a 2022 investigation into US President Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to multiple media reports.
The firing came after FBI Director Kash Patel said that federal authorities obtained his phone records during the administration of former President Joe Biden in connection with the investigation into Trump.
“It is outrageous and deeply disturbing that former FBI leadership secretly obtained my own phone records – along with current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles – using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in restricted case files designed to avoid all oversight.” Patel told Reuters on Wednesday.
The FBI Agents Association, which represents current and former agents, condemned the firings in a statement Wednesday, saying they violated due process and called them out. “Unlawful Termination(s) of FBI Special Agents.
The group said the firings would weaken the bureau by removing it “Critical expertise, destabilizing the workforce and undermining trust in leadership” It warned that this could hinder recruitment efforts and ultimately put the nation at greater risk.
The FBI searched Trump’s Florida home as part of a federal investigation into his handling of classified records after he left the White House in 2021. In 2023, Special Counsel Jack Smith accused him of trying to nullify the 2020 election, pressuring officials to invalidate the results and encouraging a blockade of supporters in Cariel on January 20. Quantification of results.
Parallel investigations of Smith led to the first federal criminal charges against a former US president. Charges in the classified documents case were dismissed in mid-2024 by a Florida judge who ruled Smith’s appointment unconstitutional. He dropped the election-related charges after Trump won the 2024 race.
Since returning to office, Trump has targeted federal personnel involved in both hearings. The Justice Department has fired several prosecutors who served on Smith’s team, while the FBI has fired agents who participated in an investigation codenamed Arctic Frost that looked into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
