Ex-FBI employees sue Kash Patel for allegedly ‘unlawful’ firings, claim they were doing their job but Trump administration took it as an ‘offense’

Nine former FBI employees who worked on the classified documents investigation involving Donald Trump are suing FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche, alleging they were unlawfully fired for their roles in the case, according to NBC News. The 70-page lawsuit alleges that the nine employees were fired within days of Patel gaining access to a file containing the names of those who worked on the investigation.

According to the filing, FBI Special Agent Miles Starr requested urgent access to the case file, codenamed ‘Plasmic Echo.’ The request came as Patel was facing criticism from within the Trump administration after videos circulated showing him drinking beer and celebrating with the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team in Milan.

The former employees claim their termination letters, signed by Patel, accused them of exercising “poor judgment and a lack of impartiality in carrying out their duties, leading to the political weaponization of the government.” Their allegations are a reminder of Patel’s history of going after critics of the Trump administration.

It can have bad consequences for America

The group includes Jennifer Bacon, Zach Feldman, Gilbert Granados, Catherine Herrera, Harrison Kaufman, Jeremy Linton, Erin Matanic, Danielle Ray, and Rachel Vaccaro. According to the filings, they “did not volunteer to participate in Plasmic Echo; they were assigned to the case because they were members of specific FBI Counterintelligence and Intelligence squads” and “performed their duties apolitically.”

The lawsuit claims they were also involved in other sensitive investigations and their sudden departures meant those investigations were not properly transferred to other FBI agents or analysts, potentially affecting national security. “The impacts of these heedless actions on America’s national security is immeasurable,” the complaint states.

Lawyers for the employees also said in a joint statement. They said, “The agents were dismissed because they did their jobs, as they always did, to follow the facts and law without bias or favor. To this administration, this is an offense. To the rest of us, it is heroic.”

The former FBI employees argue that public statements from Trump and other senior officials made it clear that those who worked on investigations involving the president were ‘doomed.’ It was added that he and other top government officials “made clear in numerous public statements that they intended to exact revenge against anyone Trump deemed to have wronged him.” The ex-employees are seeking reinstatement and back pay.