A group of FBI agents who had been investigating former President Donald Trump were fired on Friday. Reports say they were escorted out of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., office after being dismissed.
Earlier that day, officials announced a major shake-up within the FBI. Around 20 field office leaders and several regular agents lost their jobs. Among them was David Sundberg, who had been in charge of the Washington, D.C., field office since 2022. He was appointed by former FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Some of the fired agents had been working on two important cases related to Trump:
- The investigation into classified government documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
- The case looking into Trump’s role in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, where his supporters tried to overturn the 2020 election results.
Reports say that these agents were told to leave the Washington office immediately. Security officers escorted them out of the building.
In addition to these agents, several top officials in charge of different FBI offices across the country were also removed from their positions. The heads of the Washington, Miami, Seattle, New Orleans, and Las Vegas field offices were among those who lost their jobs.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry explained that these firings happened because of the agents’ involvement in investigating Trump. In an email, he told the dismissed agents that the Department of Justice no longer trusted them to work on cases fairly because they had played a big role in prosecuting the former president.
“Because you were involved in investigating President Trump, we do not believe you can be trusted to carry out the administration’s goals,” McHenry wrote in an email, according to CNN.
Despite these firings, Trump denied having anything to do with them. When asked about the situation during a press conference at the White House on Friday, he said he did not order the removals.
