WASHINGTON: Nine former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employees sued US officials on Thursday, seeking their jobs back and alleging retaliation for investigating President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Defendants include FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, the bureau and the US Department of Justice. Plaintiffs filed the case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Their complaint alleges officials fired them “only to satisfy the President’s personal vendetta”. They want back pay and a declaration that their dismissals were unlawful.
According to the filing, Patel dismissed eight plaintiffs on February 25 and the remaining employee the following day. The group includes former special agents, intelligence analysts and staff operations specialists.
Plaintiffs contend the bureau gave them no hearing or opportunity to appeal. They maintain that officials dismissed them without an internal investigation or disciplinary process.
None volunteered for the classified documents investigation, their complaint says. Instead, the bureau assigned them through their regular counterintelligence and intelligence-squad work.
Patel has defended his broader personnel dismissals in congressional testimony. He accused employees he fired of weaponising the bureau, a characterisation the plaintiffs reject.
Before becoming director, Patel publicly accused agents involved in the Mar-a-Lago search of corruption, the complaint recounts.
The filing places the dismissals shortly after Patel disclosed that investigators had obtained his telephone records during the documents probe. Plaintiffs cite that sequence in their retaliation allegations.
Collectively, the employees describe more than 100 years of FBI service. Their assignments included the Boston Marathon bombing investigation and work on the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump.
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They accuse the defendants of violating their First Amendment rights to speech and association. They also allege violations of their Fifth Amendment right to due process.
Attorneys Margaret Donovan, Abbe Lowell and Rebecca Tinio represent the employees.
Trump faced criminal charges in 2023 over classified records recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. He denied wrongdoing.
In 2024, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case after ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed.
(With additional input from The Associated Press)
