The Trump administration has purged several top FBI officials seen as being at odds with the White House, including a former acting director who refused a request to compile a list of agents who worked on cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Brian Driscoll, who in the early days of Trump’s second term was briefly put in charge of the bureau, was asked to step down this week, according to multiple reports.
Steve Jensen, the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office who was directly involved in Jan. 6-related investigations, was also pushed out.
Walter Giardina and Christopher Meyer, two agents involved with probes into the president and his trade adviser Peter Navarro, were also forced to step down, according to The New York Times, which reported that none of the men appeared eligible for retirement.
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The FBI declined to comment.
In a message to his colleagues Thursday morning, Driscoll said he was offered little in the way of explanation for his ouster.
“Last night I was informed that tomorrow will be my last day in the FBI,” Driscoll wrote in an email obtained by multiple outlets. “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.”
Both he and Jensen were celebrated employees who were with the agency for more than 20 years. Driscoll had been awarded the FBI Medal of Valor and the FBI Shield of Bravery for actions under fire, and also served as the commander of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and special agent in charge of the Newark Field Office.
Jensen was not present at Thursday’s Justice Department press conference on the indictment of an alleged shooter accused of shooting two Israeli embassy staff members earlier this summer. He was previously listed as attending.
“I’m not going to talk about politics today. I’m talking about crime. I’m talking about hate crimes, and that’s the extent of it,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in response to questions about Jensen’s departure at the press conference.
The administration is also planning this week to fire other agents at the bureau perceived to be opposed to Trump in the past, three sources familiar with the agency’s actions told CNN.
So far Trump’s second administration has dismissed at least six senior officials who participated in bringing cases against or investigated those involved with the Jan. 6 insurrection.
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