Nine Fired FBI Employees Sue Over Trump Probe Terminations, Accusing Patel of False Congress Testimony
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Nine Fired FBI Employees Sue Over Trump Probe Terminations, Accusing Patel of False Congress Testimony
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 15
Summary
Nine FBI employees fired in February sued the administration, saying they were unlawfully dismissed for working on investigations tied to Donald Trump, including the Mar-a-Lago classified-documents case.
The lawsuit says Kash Patel privately praised some of the employees before firing them and alleges the dismissals served "the president's personal vendetta," not any legitimate bureau process.
Plaintiffs include agents, analysts and operations staff, many with counterintelligence experience related to Iran; one signed the affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago search and another interviewed witnesses.
The suit also says Patel falsely told the House Intelligence Committee in March that internal FBI investigations had found unethical or inappropriate conduct before the terminations.
It further links the February firings to scrutiny Patel faced after a widely circulated video showed him chugging beer in Milan after the U.S. men's hockey team won Olympic gold.