Fired FBI Agents Cite Todd Blanche’s CPAC Boast in New Class Action Suit

(Photo by Lev Radin/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

Fired former FBI agents filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday accusing the bureau’s leadership of orchestrating politically motivated mass firings — and citing Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent boast at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) as proof.

The three former agents named in the complaint, filed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in Washington, are seeking to represent a broader class of employees dismissed since January 2025, alleging they were terminated “on the basis of perceived political affiliation, without being afforded due process.”

The complaint names the FBI director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and the Justice Department as defendants.

“Defendants’ mission – in their own words – is retribution,” the complaint reads. “They began their terms of office by compiling lists of FBI employees whom they perceived to be ‘enemies’ – due to assigned investigative work, private comments, personal friendships, immutable characteristic, or other absurd measure – and publicly initiating mass firings on a rolling basis, without due process. The firings were timed to drive headlines and curry favor with political supporters.”

Among the evidence cited by the former agents to back their claim is a public statement by Blanche, delivered at the CPAC on Thursday.

The lawsuit quotes him directly: “When it comes to the FBI… Director Patel has cleaned house there too. There isn’t a single man or woman with a gun, federal agent, still in that organization that had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump.”

The plaintiffs argue the remark reflects a broader effort to purge individuals linked, directly or indirectly, to investigations involving President Donald Trump prior to his return to office.

(Screengrab via lawsuit)

The lawsuit goes on to describe those dismissed as “career, non-partisan employees” with strong records, many of whom worked on high-profile cases. It claims the firings violated First Amendment protections around political beliefs, as well as Fifth Amendment guarantees of due process.

Individual lawsuits from dismissed agents have emerged in recent months. In one suit filed on March 19, two unnamed former FBI agents alleged they too were dismissed unfairly, solely because of their involvement in investigations into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

However, Tuesday’s filing marks the first attempt to certify a class action encompassing all affected personnel. The plaintiffs are seeking reinstatement for those removed, alongside formal recognition of the alleged pattern of politically driven dismissals.

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