Democrats succeeded Thursday in delaying a committee vote to advance the confirmation of FBI director nominee Kash Patel until next week at least.
The vote, which was supposed to happen at 10:15 on Thursday, was pushed back after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official.
In a statement Tuesday night, Grassley said attempts by top Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin, Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “basesless” as he’d already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.
A committee vote on advancing the confirmation of FBI nominee Kash Patel has officially been delayed to next week. (AP)
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Democrats succeeded Thursday in delaying a committee vote to advance the confirmation of FBI director nominee Kash Patel until next week at least.
The vote, which was supposed to happen at 10:15 on Thursday, was pushed back after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official.
In a statement Tuesday night, Grassley said attempts by top Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin, Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “basesless” as he’d already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.
A committee vote on advancing the confirmation of FBI nominee Kash Patel has officially been delayed to next week. (AP)
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Fox News correspondent David Spunt has the latest on the debate surrounding President Donald Trump’s efforts to overhaul the FBI and Justice Department on ‘Special Report.’
FBI employees who “simply followed orders” with respect to their investigations into Jan. 6 defendants will not be fired or face any other penalties, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove confirmed in an internal memo.
Bove’s memo this week accused Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of refusing to reply to requests from President Donald Trump’s administration to identify “the core team in Washington, D.C. responsible for the investigation relating to events on January 6, 2021.”
“That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove wrote.
“Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove continued. “The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”
FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION
Acting leadership at the FBI is refusing to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s administration, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove claimed in a memo.(AP/iStock)
“There is no honor in the ongoing efforts to distort that simple truth or protect culpable actors from scrutiny on these issues, which have politicized the Bureau, harmed its credibility, and distracted the public from the excellent work being done every day. If you have witnessed such behavior, I encourage you to report it through appropriate channels,” he added.
Bove’s latest memo comes after a group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations.
FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION
The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former Trump attorney, directed the FBI acting director to fire seven specific employees by Monday. (Angela Weiss – Pool/Getty Images)
The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith.
AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS
Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll is blocking the release of information on the FBI’s investigations into Jan. 6, Bove said.(FBI)
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President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”
Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
Fox News correspondent David Spunt has the latest on the debate surrounding President Donald Trump’s efforts to overhaul the FBI and Justice Department on ‘Special Report.’
FIRST ON FOX: A questionnaire that employees with the Federal Bureau of Investigation say was sent to thousands of people in the agency’s ranks this month asked detailed questions about any role agents may have played in the investigation into the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots — ranging from whether they testified in any criminal trials to when they last participated in investigation-related activity.
The questionnaire was included in a lawsuit filed by nine current FBI agents and employees in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday.
The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION
Questions ranged from agents’ participation in any grand jury subpoenas, whether the agents worked or responded to leads from another FBI field office, or if they worked as a case agent for investigations.
Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices.
But one retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case “fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,” and that violations of federal statutes were “proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.”
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President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”can
To date, there are no known plans to conduct sweeping removals or take punitive action against the agents involved.
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
A group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations into the U.S. Capitol riots, in an attempt to head off what they described as potentially retaliatory efforts against personnel involved in the probe.
The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law.
The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith.
FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION
FBI agents have filed a lawsuit to block the public identification of any employees who worked the Jan. 6 cases. (Getty Images)
“Some Plaintiffs were required to fill out the survey themselves, others were told that their supervisors would be filling out the form,” the lawsuit noted, adding that the employees “were informed that the aggregated information is going to be forwarded to upper management.”
“Plaintiffs assert that the purpose for this list is to identify agents to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action. Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons.”
President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
The FBI released posters Tuesday seeking information about two senior Iranian intelligence officers involved in the disappearance of retired FBI Special Agent Robert Levinson as the agency is vowing to “hold every Iranian official involved in his abduction accountable.”
Levinson was working as a private investigator when he vanished in 2007 after traveling to Iran’s Kish Island. He had reportedly taken part in an unauthorized CIA mission and was presumed dead in 2020.
“The FBI remains steadfast in our commitment to return Bob to his family,” Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division, said in a statement. “Our extensive investigation continues to develop new leads and intelligence, and we will pursue all options to hold every Iranian official involved in his abduction accountable.”
The FBI said the two Iranian officers in the posters – Mohammed Baseri and Ahmad Khazai — “allegedly acted in their capacity as officials of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security during Bob’s abduction, detention, and probable death.”
IRAN’S COVERT NUCLEAR AGENCY FOUND OPERATING OUT OF TOP SPACE PROGRAM LAUNCH SITES
Mohammad Baseri, left, and Ahmad Khazai. The FBI is seeking more information about both Iranian intelligence officers, who they allege played a role in the disappearance of American Robert Levinson.(FBI)
“For nearly 18 years, the Iranian government has denied knowledge of Bob’s whereabouts despite senior intelligence officials authorizing Bob’s abduction and detention and launching a disinformation campaign to deflect blame from the Iranian regime,” the FBI added.
The Treasury Department sanctioned both officers in December 2020.
TRUMP AND NETANYAHU EXPECTED TO DISCUSS IRAN, HAMAS AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING
The FBI said it received this image of Robert Levinson in April 2011, four years after his disappearance.(FBI)
“According to the designation, Baseri has been involved in counterespionage activities inside and outside Iran, as well as sensitive investigations related to Iranian national security issues. He has worked directly with intelligence officials from other countries to harm U.S. interests,” the FBI said. “Khazai has led MOIS delegations to other countries to assess security situations.”
The FBI released seeking information posters Tuesday regarding Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai.(FBI)
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A $5 million reward is still being offered by the FBI for information leading to Levinson’s location, recovery and return.
President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the FBI as “corrupt” and praised his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, as the man to “straighten it out” as he declined to answer questions over whether his administration will remove bureau employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Asked Monday by Fox News whether he believed anyone involved in the Jan. 6 investigation should be fired, Trump did not answer outright. Instead, he criticized the actions of a bureau he has repeatedly decried as “corrupt,” and one he insists has targeted him specifically.
“I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I’m a victim of it in the true sense,” Trump told Fox News while addressing reporters Monday at the Oval Office. He also added that he believes the bureau’s reputation has been “damaged badly, as has the DOJ’s.”
“But you know what? We have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement,” Trump said.
AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS
U.S. Capitol Police officers stand watch outside the Capitol building as snow falls ahead of a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2025.(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“We have to bring the reputation of the FBI not even [back] to what it was, even better than it ever was,” Trump said. “But Kash has to be the one to do it,” he added. “Kash will straighten it out.”
Trump’s remarks come days after Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed the acting FBI director to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to the Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review.
“I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove wrote in the memo, instructing that the eight employees be fired by Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Former FBI and Justice Department officials warned in interviews with Fox News Digital that such firings, while within Trump’s authority, could have a chilling effect on the rest of the bureau should the administration move to get rid of the personnel involved in the Jan. 6 investigations.
The Trump administration has not yet said if it will move to take action against the individuals involved.
But new concerns were raised after Bove sent a 12-page questionnaire to FBI personnel across the country asking them to detail their involvement in the Jan. 6 investigations, noting that the department would begin a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”
TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO FEDERAL WORKERS: RETURN TO OFFICE ‘OR BE TERMINATED’
President Donald Trump(Getty Images)
The remarks come after Trump, in his second term as president, moved to immediately issue a blanket pardon and sentence commutation for all 1,600 criminal defendants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, who he has repeatedly referred to as “hostages.”
Since taking office, Trump has also fired the inspectors general of 17 separate federal agencies, fired more than a dozen prosecutors involved in the special counsel investigations led by Jack Smith and ordered more than half a dozen FBI officials to either resign or retire from their posts or be fired.
Combined, the actions have sparked new fears that the FBI could see the ousting of decades of expertise from within the bureau’s ranks, including employees well-versed in detecting and responding to counterterrorism threats, organized and violent crime, drug trafficking and more.
DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW
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Others noted that the Jan. 6 investigation was originally launched under the Trump administration, a detail that the president and some of his supporters neglect to mention in their frequent criticisms against it.
“We’re in an extremely precarious time right now in a very chaotic world,” one former Justice Department official said in an interview. “The terrorism front is as concerning as I’ve seen it, ever. So it doesn’t make sense to me why we’d be taking a meat cleaver to agencies that defend against that.”
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman, David Spunt, Jake Gibson and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
FIRST ON FOX— The Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association (FBIAA) sent a letter to House and Senate leaders Monday raising “urgent concerns” over recent actions taken by acting DOJ and FBI personnel, which they say threatens careers of thousands of employees and risks disrupting the bureau’s essential work.
The FBIAA, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, cited in particular the order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to terminate the entire FBI senior leadership team, and the assistant director in charge of the Washington Field Office, as well as the order for bureau employees to compile lists of all current and former personnel who worked on investigations related to January 6, 2021, and a Hamas-related case.
The lists, the group said, “will be used to determine whether those individuals should face additional personnel actions.”
“Put simply, Special Agents who risk their lives protecting this country from criminals and terrorists are now being placed on lists and having their careers jeopardized for carrying out the orders they were given by their superiors in the FBI,” the group said, saying the actions both lack “transparency and due process,” and “are creating dangerous distractions, imperiling ongoing investigations, and undermining the Bureau’s ability to work with state, local, and international partners to make America safe again.”
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This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.
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Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo to the acting FBI director Friday evening directing him to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review, Fox News has learned.
Bove’s memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, which was obtained by Fox News, asserts the Department of Justice cannot trust the FBI employees to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda.
The subject of the memo is “Terminations.”
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM
“This memorandum sets forth a series of directives, authorized by the Acting Attorney General, regarding personnel matters to be addressed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Bove wrote.
Bove, a former Trump defense attorney, directed Driscoll to fire eight specific FBI employees by Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former Trump attorney, directed the FBI acting director to fire seven specific employees by Monday.(Angela Weiss/Pool/Getty Images)
“I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” Bove wrote in the memo.
Bove cited comments made by President Trump on his first day back in office, in which Trump accused the Biden administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies of going after Biden’s political adversaries.
“The American people have witnessed the previous administration engage in a systemic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions,” Bove’s memo noted. “This includes the FBI.”
ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER
Bove said the FBI’s “prior leadership actively participated in what President Trump appropriately described as ‘a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years’ with respect to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The weaponization of the FBI’s security clearance process is similarly troubling,” Bove continued. “So too are issues relating to the FBI’s reticence to address instructions and requests from, among other places, the Justice Department.”
The seal for the Justice Department in Washington Nov. 18, 2022.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Bove said the problems “are symptomatic of deficiencies in previous leadership that must now be addressed.”
Bove wrote that he “deem[s] these terminations necessary, pursuant to President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, entitled ‘Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government’ in order to continue the process of restoring a culture of integrity, credibility, accountability, and responsiveness to the leadership and directives of President Trump and the Justice Department.”
Beyond the terminations of the eight employees, Bove directed Driscoll to identify by noon Tuesday, Feb. 4, “all current and former FBI personnel assigned at any time to investigations and/or prosecutions” relating to “the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021” and United States v. Haniyeh, a terrorism case against six Hamas leaders charged with planning and carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel.
The defendants in that case include Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, high-level Hamas leaders believed to have been assassinated in 2024 by Israeli operatives.
MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR
Bove ordered that the lists of employees Driscoll should compile “should include relevant supervisory personnel in FBI regional offices and field divisions, as well as at FBI headquarters.”
“For each employee included in the list, provide the current title, office to which the person is assigned, role in the investigation or prosecution, and date of last activity relating to the investigation or prosecution,” Bove directed. “Upon timely receipt of the requested information, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General will commence a review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary.”
Fox News also obtained the letter Driscoll sent to bureau employees Friday evening after receiving Bove’s memo. In it, Driscoll notified employees he was directed to fire the specific employees Bove identified “unless these employees have retired beforehand.”
“I have been personally in touch with each of these impacted employees,” Driscoll wrote.
The J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building in Washington, D.C. (Brooks Kraft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
As for the directive to compile a list of FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 and Hamas cases, Driscoll said that request “encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts.”
“I am one of those employees, as is acting Deputy Director Kissane,” Driscoll wrote. “As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always.
“We will be back in touch with more information as soon as we can. In the meantime, stay safe, and take care of each other.”
The FBI declined to comment on any personnel matters, including names, titles or numbers.
The DOJ directive comes after Acting Attorney General James McHenry earlier this week fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump. Fox News Digital exclusively reported the action Monday.
Special counsel Jack Smith delivers remarks on an indictment, including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump at the Justice Department Aug. 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
A DOJ official Monday used similar language to that seen in Bove’s letter, telling Fox News Digital McHenry “does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”
The directive also comes a day after Fox News Digital exclusively reported that whistleblower emails were shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, revealing that a former FBI agent, Timothy Thibault, allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication.
Bove’s memo also comes a day after President Trump’s nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel, testified during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Trump and allies have maintained the law enforcement agency was weaponized against him and conservatives across the nation.
The House Judiciary Committee, for months, investigated the FBI for the creation of a memo targeting Catholics and parents at school board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Trump on Friday evening denied any involvement in the DOJ directive.
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“We have some very bad people over there,” Trump said Friday. “They came after a lot of people like me, but they came after a lot of people. No, I wasn’t involved in that.
“I’ll have to see what is exactly going on after this is finished,” he added. “But if they fired some people over there, that’s a good thing, because they were very bad. They were very corrupt people, very corrupt, and they hurt our country very badly with the weaponization. They used, they used the Justice Department to go after their political opponent, which in itself is illegal. And obviously it didn’t work.”
The Trump administration has told top officials at the FBI to resign or lose their jobs, Fox News has learned.
The exact number has not been disclosed, but the ultimatum was allegedly given to senior employees promoted under former director, Christopher A. Wray.
President Donald Trump’s administration took these steps as his nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel, said he would not begin his tenure with retribution or focus on past transgressions.
“I have no interest, no desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards. There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken,” Patel said at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP)
According to reporting from The New York Times, an email to colleagues from one of the senior agents outlined that he had learned he would be dismissed “from the rolls of the F.B.I.” as soon as Monday morning.
“I was given no rationale for this decision, which, as you might imagine, has come as a shock,” he wrote.
The FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Patel said he is unaware of any plans of retribution by the Trump administration.
“Are you aware of any plans or discussions to punish in any way, including termination, FBI agents or personnel associated with Trump investigations?” asked Democratic Sen. Cory Booker.
SPARKS EXPECTED TO FLY AT KASH PATEL’S SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARING TO LEAD FBI
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, arrives for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
“I am not aware of that, senator,” Patel replied.
Although Patel has been nominated, a director has not been officially confirmed to take charge, so the news of the ultimatum was alarming for those involved.
Until the vote comes to a close, Brian Driscoll remains the bureau’s acting director.
The FBI declined to comment when reached by Fox News.
