The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has handed the Justice Department a list of thousands of employees involved in investigations into the January 6 attack on the Capitol, complying with a direct request from Donald Trump’s administration.
According to CNN, senior FBI officials—to be led by Trump ally Kash Patel—provided the government with more than 5,000 names, a significant portion of the agency’s 13,000 agents and its broader workforce of roughly 38,000 employees. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had set a noon deadline on Tuesday for the handover, following an earlier directive to dismiss eight high-ranking officials, including those overseeing cybersecurity, national security, and criminal investigations.
Acting Attorney General James McHenry defended the firings, arguing that the officials in question could not be trusted to implement the administration’s agenda.
The move has triggered swift backlash. A group of FBI agents has filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department, claiming the administration’s demand for a survey on their investigative work related to January 6 violates constitutional rights and federal privacy laws. The lawsuit, filed anonymously as a class action, asks a federal judge to block the release of the information.
The complaint alleges that compiling a list of those involved in politically sensitive investigations amounts to retaliation—an attempt to intimidate federal employees and deter future probes into potential misconduct. The questionnaire sent to agents reportedly included questions about their roles within the FBI and their involvement in operations tied to January 6, such as arrests, testimony, or grand jury proceedings.
While many within the Bureau anticipated a shift in priorities under a second Trump term, the scale of the shake-up has taken officials by surprise. Some agents have voiced concerns over the centralization of investigations in Washington and the downsizing of regional offices, urging Congress to intervene and stop what many are calling a purge.
Attorneys representing federal agents and prosecutors warn that further dismissals could violate constitutional protections. They also caution that making the names public would expose those affected to “immediate risks of doxing, swatting, harassment, or worse.”
In an effort to reassure his staff, James Dennehy, head of the FBI’s New York office, sent an internal email urging agents to stand firm. “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”, the letter continues, “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.”
