‘The FBI will work within the law and policy to respond to official requests for information from the Department of Justice,’ an FBI spokesperson said.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked for the names of thousands of FBI employees who worked on investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a Jan. 31 missive to Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll directed the FBI to provide the names of all bureau personnel who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, breach and an unrelated terrorism case, a group of Senate Democrats wrote in a Feb. 3 letter.
Driscoll told FBI workers in a separate message to the FBI workforce that the request encompasses thousands of employees across the country, including himself, “who have supported these investigative efforts.”
Bove warned that “additional personnel actions” could follow, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said.
DOJ officials did not respond to requests for comment.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Bove has requested information about FBI personnel.
“The FBI is currently working to respond to a request for information from the Acting Deputy Attorney General about current and former FBI personnel assigned to certain investigations or prosecutions, including the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“The FBI will work within the law and policy to respond to official requests for information from the Department of Justice. To be clear, the FBI does not view anyone’s identification on one of these lists as an indicator of misconduct.”
Ed Martin, interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, previously launched an investigation into why federal prosecutors brought a felony obstruction charge against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants. Trump, after taking office, pardoned many people who had been charged over the Jan. 6, 2021, breach.
The new request for information comes after acting DOJ leadership terminated officials, including prosecutors involved in prosecuting Trump before he was elected, and six FBI executive assistant directors.
“I do not believe the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove wrote in his letter to Driscoll, the Senate Democrats wrote.
Durbin and the other senators told Acting Attorney General James McHenry and Driscoll that the terminations, and reassignments that have also taken place, “deprive DOJ and the FBI of experienced, senior leadership and decades of experience fighting violent crime, espionage, and terrorism.” They asked for details about the actions.
Leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association told members of Congress on Feb. 3 that the DOJ’s actions are threatening the jobs of thousands of FBI agents and “risk disrupting the bureau’s essential work.”
“Any review of Special Agents should follow established disciplinary procedures that provide the necessary due process and transparency to our nation’s law enforcement officers,” the group stated.
McHenry and Driscoll are serving in acting positions as the Senate considers the nominations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to become, respectively, the attorney general and FBI director.
Patel said during his confirmation hearing that he would not act against FBI employees solely because of their work on probes into Trump.
“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” he said.
“I will not politicize that office,“ Bondi said during her confirmation hearing. ”I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation.”