FBI agents file class action lawsuit against Trump’s Justice Department over ‘retribution’ for Jan 6 and Mar-a-Lago investigations
FBI agents file class action lawsuit against Trump’s Justice Department over ‘retribution’ for Jan 6 and Mar-a-Lago investigations
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FBI agents accuse the Department of Justice of ‘unlawful’ and ‘retaliatory’ purges. Agents fear that Justice Department leadership, under Trump’s instruction, will use the list to “identify agents and other FBI personnel to be terminated as a form of politically motivated retribution,” according to the complaint. “Plaintiffs assert that the very act of compiling lists of persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel and to discourage them from reporting any future malfeasance and by Donald Trump and his agents,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also notes that Elon Musk and his allies are working to “access government databases that house personal information, without regard to security protocols, and without a legitimate business purpose,” and that their personal information has been published on the “dark web” by convicted rioters. “Plaintiffs legitimately fear that the information being compiled will be accessed by persons who are not authorized to have access to it, and who lack the requisite security clearances to handle such information,” according to the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs further assert that even if they are not targeted for termination, they may face other retaliatory acts such as demotion, denial of job opportunities or denial of promotions in the future.”.
The publication of those surveys could place them in “immediate risk of serious harm,” according to the agents, who are asking a judge to block the dissemination or publication of the surveys. The agents claim violations of their First Amendment rights and a breach of federal privacy laws that prohibit the Justice Department from disseminating the identities of FBI personnel. The Independent has requested comment from the Justice Department and White House.
Trump swiftly issued pardons and commuted the sentences for virtually every convicted rioter as one of his first official actions in the Oval Office on January 20, while Ed Martin — the acting U.S. attorney in Washington — is moving to dismiss the remaining cases against people accused of joining a Trump-fueled mob on January 6, 2021. Now-former special counsel Jack Smith effectively dismissed the two sprawling federal cases against the president, and he resigned before Trump returned to office.
