FBI turns over names of 5,000 employees who worked on January 6 cases to Trump Justice Department, as agents sue
By Josh Campbell, Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
Updated 1:48 PM EST, Tue February 4, 2025
The demand has caused consternation among FBI employees who fear it is meant to amass a list of line-level personnel for possible termination by the Trump administration. Mark Wilson/Getty Images
CNN — FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the situation.
The demand has caused consternation among FBI employees who fear it is meant to amass a list of personnel for possible termination by the Trump administration.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, in a Friday memo with the subject line “Terminations,” had given FBI officials a noon deadline Tuesday to submit the names of thousands of agents and analysts. Bove previously ordered the firing of eight senior FBI officials, including those who oversaw cyber, national security and criminal investigations.
More than 5,000 names were submitted, sources said. There are more than 13,000 agents and 38,000 total FBI employees.
Meanwhile, officials dispatched by Elon Musk have been seen at FBI headquarters. Musk has headed up efforts by President Donald Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
But several FBI employees on Tuesday sued the Justice Department, accusing it of violating the Constitution and privacy laws by demanding that agents complete a survey allegedly designed to “purge” bureau personnel. The agents want a federal judge to block the Trump administration from publishing or releasing the surveys or any information included in their answers.
“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 alleges.
The survey agents were required to fill out included questions about their positions at the bureau and specific roles in January 6 investigations, including whether they executed arrests, participated in grand jury investigations or testified at trials, according to a copy of the survey included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was brought by several anonymous FBI employees as a class-action complaint.
The effort to fire anyone involved in Trump-related probes has been slowed in part by pushback from agents, including some who are working with new administration officials pushing for the cultural changes at FBI headquarters that Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director, has promised, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Groups representing current and former agents reached out to congressional Republicans to urge the White House to abide by
Patel’s promise in his Senate hearing last week that agents wouldn’t face political retribution for working on cases they were assigned.
Patel also indicated there would be a process to review the work of agents.
Bove’s Friday memo, which came after the eight firings of senior officials had already taken place, officially laid out what appears to be the process that Patel described in his testimony.
“Upon receipt of the requested information, the office of the deputy attorney general will, commence a review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary,” Bove wrote.
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Fight over purge of bureau personnel
FBI employees, who for months have braced for massive changes with Trump’s election victory, have been surprised at attempts to punish agents and analysts who don’t have a choice on which cases they are assigned.
Last month, the Justice Department
fired more than a dozen officials who worked on the federal criminal investigations into Trump. A letter from acting Attorney General James McHenry to the officials said they not could be “trusted” to “faithfully” implement Trump’s agenda.
Like many in law enforcement, the FBI work force generally leans conservative. And in the aftermath of January 6, many agents expressed reluctance at being involved in Capitol riot cases, complaining that the response was heavy-handed.
On his first day in office, Trump
issued a blanket pardon to those arrested and convicted for their roles in the violent US Capitol riot.
Some agents in recent years have complained about the growth in ranks of management at FBI headquarters, and the focus on cases run from the Washington area. But even among those who have chafed at FBI leadership, the moves to conduct a broader purge has been shocking, according to current and former agents.
On Monday, a group of advocacy organizations representing federal law enforcement officers
urged congressional leaders to prevent the Trump administration from purging career FBI career officials.
The top agent in the FBI’s New York field office, meanwhile, told his colleagues he’s digging a “foxhole” to protect them.
“Do NOT resign or offer to resign,” the FBI Agents Association told members in an email obtained by CNN. “While we would never advocate for physical non-compliance, you need to be clear your removal is not voluntary.”
Separately, lawyers for prosecutors and FBI agents called the possible dismissal of employees who worked on Trump-related investigations a “violation of the due process rights” and threatened legal action in
a letter to senior DOJ officials Sunday night.
“If you proceed with terminations and/or public exposure of terminated employees’ identities, we stand ready to vindicate their rights through all available legal means,” the lawyers wrote to Bove.
The letter warns that should names of the agents become public, they would be subject to “immediate risk of doxing, swatting, harassment, or possibly worse.”
Digging in
Perhaps the most passionate response has been from James Dennehy, the top leader of the FBI’s New York field office, who told his staff he’s preparing to “dig in” to defend them.
CNN obtained a copy of Dennehy’s email, which reads in part:
“I still remember the first time I dug a foxhole in the Marines, back in 1993. I had nothing more than an E-tool (entrenching tool) that I carried around everywhere, which was a mini (2-foot long) shovel. I dug with that damn thing all day long to build myself a 2-foot by 2-foot hole in the hard ground, about five feet deep. It sucked. But it worked. That foxhole provided me the protection I needed for the battle that was to come, and when the bullets flew, it was worth the effort.
“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy. On a day like today, I find myself searching for my old E-tool, ready to put in the sweat and effort to dig that foxhole, as I have that feeling that I need to do right by this office.
“I will support each and every one of you with whatever personal decision you make, but I’m sticking around to defend you, your work, your families, and this team we call the Flagship.
“Time for me to dig in.”
CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
