Three former senior officials at the FBI have sued its director, Kash Patel, and the federal government for wrongful termination, saying there had been widespread unlawful political influence at the bureau.
The three officials, Brian Driscoll Jr, Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Washington DC, asking a judge to declare their firings were illegal, reinstate them, and award them backpay.
Driscoll briefly served as the acting director of the FBI after Trump’s inauguration, Jensen was in charge of the Washington field office, and Evans was a top official in the department’s human resources division and most recently the head of the agency’s Las Vegas field office. All three men had decades of service at the FBI.
The complaint details an episode in which Patel allegedly told Driscoll he had been instructed by the White House to fire any agent who worked on an investigation of Donald Trump.
“Patel explained that he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the president,” the complaint says. Patel explained that there was nothing he or Driscoll could do to stop these or any other firings, because “the FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn’t forgotten it”.
The complaint also alleges Emil Bove, a staunch Trump ally and former top justice department official, asked Driscoll to compile a list of agents who worked on the investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. When Driscoll said the mass firing of those agents would not comply with FBI protocol and would endanger national security, Bove said they would be referred to the justice department for a misconduct review.
Bove, the complaint says, also told Driscoll that he received pressure from White House aide Stephen Miller to fire FBI agents en masse.
Bove also expressed his displeasure at videos that appeared to be created by FBI employees depicting him as the Batman villain Bane and Driscoll as Batman. “Driscoll responded that he did not make the video, nor could he control unknown individuals’ feelings or expressions of said feelings,” the complaint says.
The firings of the three men was one of the most brazen examples of how Trump has politicized and weaponized law enforcement to target his political rivals.
“Driscoll, Jensen, and Evans were the targets of defendants’ retribution for their refusals to politicize the FBI, and they seek to vindicate their constitutional and legal rights,” the complaint says.
Driscoll was fired after he opposed the firing of Christopher Meyer, an agent who had been wrongly accused of being involved in the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.
“Driscoll stated that summarily firing Meyer would be illegal based on his military veteran status, and would also violate all established FBI policies for adverse actions against personnel,” the complaint says. “Patel responded that Meyer would be fired by Friday August 8 2025, and that there was nothing either Patel or Driscoll could say or do that would stop it.”
“Patel acknowledged that the FBI would be sued and would lose in court,” the complaint says.
In a statement, Driscoll, who served as the acting FBI director after Trump’s inauguration, said: “The men and women of the FBI make countless sacrifices to accomplish the bureau’s mission: protecting the American people and upholding the constitution. That’s why it is necessary to detail the politically motivated actions that led to our firings.
“The American people deserve an FBI made up of professionals who can serve righteously and confidently, with no fear of inappropriately applied pressure or wrongful termination.”
The complaint also details how Dan Bongino, the deputy director of the FBI, pressured Jensen to fire Walter Giardina, an FBI agent who worked on Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump and was involved in the arrest of Trump ally Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress. Bongino told Jensen that Giardina had “got to go”, the complaint says. Jensen refused to fire him, citing FBI protocols and the fact that Giardina, a veteran, had certain employment protections.
Evans was targeted after a former FBI agent friendly with Patel alleged he had denied his request to be exempt from the bureau’s Covid protocols. After the former agent, Kyle Seraphin, began accusing Patel of backing out of a promise to fire Evans, Evans was removed from his job in charge of the Las Vegas field office and reassigned to a job in Huntsville, Alabama. As he was packing his truck to move, he was told he was fired. Evans was reportedly told he was not being fired for discipline, performance or misconduct.
“The public’s confidence in the FBI hinges on the commitment of every FBI employee, from the newest special agent to the director, to relentlessly adhere to the rule of law without fear or favor,” Evans said in a statement. “Americans should demand FBI leaders who make decisions based solely on the facts of an investigation and never on the desired outcome of one.”
The FBI Agents Association said in a statement that FBI special agents have fewer career employment protections than many federal counterparts do. “The unlawfully fired employees who filed today’s lawsuit are using the limited measures they do have to fight for their constitutional right to fair treatment and due process,” it said.
