Three former senior FBI officials filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday accusing FBI Director Kash Patel and senior Justice Department officials of carrying out politically motivated purges within the bureau. The complaint centers on Brian Driscoll, briefly elevated to acting FBI director earlier this year, who says he was subjected to a loyalty test before his appointment.
According to Driscoll, a Trump administration official questioned him on his political history, asking, “Who did you vote for?” “When did you start supporting President Trump?” “Have you voted for a Democrat in the last five elections?” and whether agents involved in the Mar-a-Lago search should “be held accountable.” Driscoll refused to answer most of the questions.
Despite being told he had “failed” the vetting interview, Driscoll was advanced into the role with assurances from then–acting deputy attorney Emil Bove, who later pressured him to fire eight FBI executives and reveal the core team behind the January 6 investigations. When Driscoll resisted, Bove demanded the names of every FBI employee connected to the cases, eventually receiving a list of more than 5,000 personnel identified only by ID numbers.
The lawsuit alleges that after Patel was confirmed, Driscoll was dismissed in August for refusing to fire a military veteran pilot who had flown FBI aircraft during the Mar-a-Lago raid. Driscoll claims Patel admitted his own position “depended on the removal of the agents who worked on the cases against the President.”
The suit also includes claims from Steven Jensen, who led the Washington field office, and Spencer Evans, who oversaw the Las Vegas division. Jensen says he was targeted online for his work on the Capitol riot probes and pressured by Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino to dismiss an agent accused of being tied to the Russia investigation. Though Jensen refused, both he and the agent were later fired.
Evans, who managed pandemic-related exemption requests, says he was similarly pressured and ultimately dismissed. His termination letter accused him of showing “a lack of reasonableness and overzealousness” in enforcing COVID-19 protocols.
The lawsuit argues that the firings “undermined national security” by removing veteran FBI leaders with” expertise in counterterrorism and violent crime prevention,”replacing merit-based leadership with political loyalty.
