FBI Continues Purge of Agents Connected to Trump 2020 Election Investigation

US President Donald Trump

The FBI has dismissed additional agents and supervisors connected to the federal investigation into President Donald Trump's attempts to challenge the 2020 election results.

According to sources who spoke to The Associated Press, these recent terminations occurred despite Washington's top federal prosecutor attempting to halt at least some of the dismissals.

Employees were informed this week of their termination, but these plans were temporarily suspended when D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro expressed concerns, according to two individuals who spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters publicly.

The agents were subsequently terminated again on Tuesday, though the reason for this reversal remains unclear. The exact number of fired agents has not been confirmed.

These dismissals are part of a broader staff reorganization under FBI Director Kash Patel, who has removed numerous senior officials and agents involved in investigations or actions that have displeased the Trump administration. Three high-ranking FBI officials who were ousted filed a lawsuit against Patel in September, claiming he yielded to political pressure to execute a "campaign of retribution."

Representatives for both Patel and Pirro did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The FBI Agents Association, which has criticized Patel for the terminations, stated that the director has "disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution."

"Yesterday's actions - where FBI Special Agents were terminated, briefly reinstated, and then fired again today - highlight the chaos that results when established policies and procedures are ignored," the association commented. "An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it properly within legal boundaries should never constitute grounds for termination."

The 2020 election investigation that eventually led to special counsel Jack Smith's indictment of Trump has faced intense examination from Republican lawmakers, who claim the Biden administration Justice Department has been weaponized against conservatives. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, has recently released FBI documents from the investigation, including evidence that investigators analyzed phone records from more than half a dozen Republican lawmakers during their inquiry.

The Justice Department has dismissed prosecutors and other employees who worked on Smith's team, while the FBI has similarly removed agents and senior officials for various reasons as part of an ongoing purge that has increased turmoil and unease within the bureau.

In August, the FBI removed the head of the bureau's Washington field office and the former acting director who resisted Trump administration demands to reveal the identities of agents involved in January 6 Capitol riot investigations. Additionally, in September, the bureau fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington following George Floyd's death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in 2020.