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By Gabe Whisnant and Sonam Sheth
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A group of FBI agents brought a class-action lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday, accusing it of carrying out an "unlawful and retaliatory" directive from President Donald Trump to purge the bureau of agents who worked on the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot probe and the classified-documents investigation into Trump.
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Justice Department for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The lawsuit—brought by nine anonymous agents—was filed as thousands of agency personnel have been ordered to fill out questionnaires about their involvement in cases related to the deadly Capitol riot.
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On Tuesday afternoon, the FBI turned over the names of 5,000 employees who worked on January 6 cases to the Justice Department, CNN reported. That's about 13 percent of the bureau's workforce.
Last week, a top DOJ official also ordered the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. to fire about 30 prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases over the last four years.
What To Know
Tuesday's lawsuit was filed against the Justice Department and acting attorney general James McHenry, but it mentioned Trump by name multiple times.
"Upon returning to the Presidency, Mr. Trump has ordered the DOJ to conduct a review and purge of FBI personnel involved in these investigations and prosecutions," it said. "This directive is unlawful and retaliatory" and violates a federal law protecting government employees from unfair treatment.
The complaint said that in addition to grilling FBI personnel about their involvement with January 6 cases, the questionnaires that were distributed last week asked them to identify if they played a "specific role" in the special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into Trump's hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office in 2021.
The complaint included screenshots of a three-page survey the plaintiffs said DOJ leaders plan to use to identify thousands of agents who worked on the January 6 and Mar-a-Lago cases.
"Plaintiffs were informed that the aggregated information is going to be forwarded to
upper management. Plaintiffs assert that the purpose for this list is to identify agents to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action," the lawsuit said. "Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons."
They were referring to the roughly 1,500 people Trump pardoned who were convicted of crimes related to the Capitol riot, as well as 14 people, some of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy, whose sentences Trump commuted.
The plaintiffs have reason to believe the information they provide will "be used to target them for retaliatory discharge due to the Trump administration's perception of their loyalties," the suit said.
It pointed out that Trump himself has made repeated public pronouncements of his intent to exact revenge upon persons he perceives to be disloyal to him by simply executing their duties in investigating acts incited by him and persons loyal to him."
The lawsuit said that if Trump or his allies choose to publicize the information in the surveys or if it's otherwise leaked, the impact could go beyond personal consequences for the agents involved.
"Should this information fall into the wrong hands, the national security of the Unite[d] States would be severely compromised," it said.
Second Group of FBI Agents Sues The DOJ
Shortly after Tuesday's lawsuit was filed, a second group of anonymous FBI employees sued the Justice Department, accusing it of carrying out "the mass, unlawful termination of Bureau employees" involved in the Capitol riot investigation.
The lawsuit mentioned the survey that was distributed to FBI personnel over the weekend and said that "strangely, the selection of FBI agents who received this information included many who did little to no work on January 6 investigations, while others who did work January 6 investigations did not receive a survey request."
The FBI Agents Association, which represents 14,000 current and former bureau personnel, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, as are seven anonymous FBI employees. The anonymous plaintiffs are special agents, forensic examiners, a forensic chemist and an intelligence analyst. The complaint named the Justice Department as a defendant.
In addition to accusing the Justice Department of trying to purge as many as 6,000 agents from the bureau, the lawsuit said multiple January 6 defendants who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted by Trump have since gone on to publicly call for "retribution" against agents involved in their prosecutions.
What People Are Saying
Cheri Jacobus, a former Republican turned Trump critic, celebrated the lawsuit, writing on X: "YES! FBI employees are suing Trump acting AG for violating the Constitution and their rights."
The FBI Agents Association urged Congress to protect the jobs of FBI personnel who could be fired, saying in part: The organization has "urgent concerns about recent actions taken by acting officials at the Department of Justice that threaten the careers of thousands of FBI Special Agents and risk disrupting the Bureau's essential work."
A group of Senate Democrats said in a letter to the acting AG and acting FBI director: "Retaliating against these career public servants who were simply doing the work assigned to them is outrageous and unacceptable."
What Happens Next
The FBI complied with a Tuesday deadline to turn over the names of thousands of agency personnel who worked on Capitol riot cases, even as the nine anonymous agents brought their class-action lawsuit.
The Justice Department has not yet issued a statement on the suit but will likely seek to have it dismissed.
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Update 2/4/25 1:59 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
Update 2/4/25 2:05 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
Update 2/4/25 4:26 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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