FBI Fires Agents Part of Trump Probe   02/26 06:16

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI has fired additional agents who worked on an 
investigation into President Donald Trump, this time terminating employees who 
participated in the probe into the Republican's hoarding of classified 
documents, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

   The firings are part of a broader personnel purge under the leadership of 
Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee who, over the last year, has pushed out 
dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president 
or who were perceived as not in alignment with the administration's agenda. The 
Justice Department has engaged in similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors 
since Trump took office last year.

   The FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as unlawful and endangering 
national security.

   "These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and 
destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing 
the Bureau's ability to meet its recruitment goals -- ultimately putting the 
nation at greater risk," the association said in a statement.

   The latest round of terminations included employees who helped investigate 
Trump's retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, a case that 
involved a high-profile FBI search of the Florida property and resulted in a 
federal prosecution charging the now-president with holding onto top-secret 
records from his first term in office and obstructing government efforts to get 
them back.

   The firings were confirmed to The Associated Press by multiple people 
familiar with the matter who spoke on anonymity because they could not publicly 
discuss the personnel moves. Several of the people said a total of 10 employees 
were fired, and one said at least 10 were fired.

   The FBI has also fired agents who participated in a separate investigation 
into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 
That investigation also led to criminal charges, but like the Mar-a-Lago case, 
was abandoned by special counsel Jack Smith after Trump won the White House in 
November 2024 because of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that 
say sitting presidents cannot be indicted.

   The firings were revealed on the same day that Patel was quoted as telling 
Reuters the FBI during the Biden administration had subpoenaed his phone 
records and those of current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. Patel said 
the action had occurred in 2022 and 2023 when they were private citizens.

   Patel was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in 2022 to testify before a 
grand jury in Washington in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, and appeared after 
being given immunity, the AP has previously reported.