Kash Patel Reportedly Fires at Least 10 FBI Agents for Investigating Trump

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images

FBI Director Kash Patel allegedly fired at least 10 FBI agents involved in the investigation into President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, multiple news outlets reported on Wednesday.

Patel ousted the bureau employees following an investigation into its actions surrounding former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal probe into Trump’s retention of classified documents after his departure from office in 2021.

The FBI director ordered the investigation after the discovery of FBI subpoenas for his and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ phone records, when both were private citizens. Patel called the action “outrageous and deeply alarming,” claiming the agency used “flimsy pretexts” and attempted to “evade all oversight” on the subpoenas.

His disclosure of the discovery on Wednesday – in a statement to Reuters – came mere hours before multiple sources told CNN, CBS, and Reuters that Patel had fired the FBI officials.

Patel had reportedly taken similar actions in recent days. Senior field office leaders in Atlanta and New Orleans, the acting assistant director overseeing the New York field office, and six agents in Miami were allegedly fired in January. All had ties to one of Smith’s probes into Trump. Their firings came soon after Smith testified to Congress, defending his investigations.

“I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including the decision to bring charges against President Trump,” Smith said in his opening statement. “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity.”

A grand jury indicted Trump on 40 felony counts related to the mishandling of classified materials after a 2022 FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home found allegedly classified documents stored in public areas. Smith dropped his probe into the classified documents case after Trump was elected to a second term.

On Monday, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the Justice Department from releasing portions of Smith’s report dealing with the classified documents probe, siding with the president and his co-defendants.

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