By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI is firing another round of employees, including former Acting Director Brian Driscoll, in its latest moves against officials who worked on issues that drew President Donald Trump’s ire, four people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.
Driscoll, who temporarily served as the bureau’s director early this year before FBI Director Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation, was viewed as a hero by some in the bureau after he sought to shield them from being targeted for their role in investigating people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a failed bid to overturn Trump’s election defeat.
The Justice Department’s former Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who has since been confirmed to serve as an appellate court judge, accused Driscoll and former FBI Acting Deputy Director Robert Kissane of insubordination, after they tried to fend off his efforts to collect a list of the names of all those people.
Driscoll, nicknamed “The Drizz,” told his colleagues in a farewell message on Thursday that he was given no explanation for his removal.
“Last night I was informed that tomorrow will be my last day in the FBI. I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I currently have no answers. No cause has been articulated at this time,” he wrote, according to a copy seen by Reuters. “Please know that it has been the honor of my life to serve alongside each of you.”
The FBI also notified at least three other agents they will be terminated by Friday, including the Washington Field Office’s Assistant Director-in-Charge Steve Jensen, former Las Vegas Special Agent-in-Charge Spencer Evans and Walter Giardina, an agent in the Washington field office who was recently targeted by Republican Senator Charles Grassley for his involvement in several Trump-related cases, said the people who were briefed on the matter.
Jensen, in a message to his staff, said he received a similar message that his employment will be terminated effective Friday. “Never waver in your resolve to answer the call to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution,” he wrote, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters.
The FBI declined to comment.
The moves are the latest in a string of firings that kicked off on Trump’s first day in office, including against people who worked on cases related to January 6 or former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s two indictments against Trump for his retention of classified records and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
In most of the firings, employees were not provided with explanations for their removal. Many have since filed legal challenges that remain pending.
In a statement, the FBI Agents Association said it was “deeply concerned” about the reports that agents will be “summarily fired without due process for doing their jobs.”
“There is a review process when employment actions are taken against Agents. The process was established so that the FBI could remain independent and apolitical. FBI leadership committed — both publicly and directly to FBIAA — that they would abide by that process. We urge them to honor that commitment and follow the law,” the group added.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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