FBI staff fired over Trump classified documents probe sue to get their jobs back
Nine FBI agents and analysts fired in February over their work on the Trump classified documents investigation sued Thursday, calling their dismissals “political retribution.”
Symbolic image · Photo: ajay_suresh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped and resized)
Nine FBI employees who worked on the investigation into classified documents kept at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and were fired in February filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Washington, The Associated Press reported. The group includes agents, intelligence analysts and staff from counterintelligence squads.
The plaintiffs say their firings were unlawful “political retribution” designed to “satisfy the President's personal vendetta,” and that they received no notice, hearing or opportunity to appeal. They are seeking reinstatement, back pay and a court declaration that the dismissals were illegal.
FBI Director Kash Patel has told Congress that fired employees had “weaponized” the bureau. There was no immediate response from the FBI or the Justice Department to the lawsuit. A judge, Aileen Cannon, dismissed the criminal case against Trump in 2024; Trump denied any wrongdoing.