"The complaint asserts that FBI Director Kash Patel indicated directly to one of the ousted agents, Brian Driscoll, that he knew the firings were likely illegal but was powerless to stop them because the White House and the Justice Department were determined to remove all agents who had helped in investigations surrounding Trump."
"The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Driscoll, Steve Jensen and Spencer Evans, three of five agents known to have been fired last month in a purge that current and former officials say has unnerved the workforce. It represents a legal challenge from the top rungs of the FBI's leadership ladder to a flood of departures under Trump's Republican administration that has wiped out decades of experience."
"Fired agents have levelled unflattering allegations against a law enforcement agency whose personnel moves are shaped by the White House and guided more by politics than by public safety. Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people, the suit says. His decision to do so degraded the country's national security by firing three of the FBI's most experienced operational leaders, each of them experts in preventing terrorism and reducing violent crime."
Three former senior FBI officials, including Acting Director Brian Driscoll, filed a lawsuit naming Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI, the Justice Department and the Executive Office of the President as defendants. The complaint alleges the officials were dismissed in a campaign of retribution targeting those viewed as insufficiently loyal. The suit asserts Patel told Driscoll he knew the firings were likely illegal but could not stop them because the White House and DOJ wanted to remove agents tied to investigations surrounding Trump. The filings say the purge has unnerved the workforce and degraded national security by removing experienced operational leaders. The FBI declined to comment.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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