Nine former FBI employees fired over investigation into Trump's classified records sue Kash Patel, DOJ over alleged unlawful dismissal

Nine former FBI employees filed a lawsuit on Thursday, alleging they were unlawfully fired for working on former special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents after his first term in the White House. The plaintiffs, including former special agents, intelligence analysts and staff operations specialists, worked on counterintelligence investigations. They were dismissed over two days in February 2026, shortly before the United States and Israel launched military strikes against Iran.

The lawsuit adds to a growing number of legal challenges brought by former FBI agents and other personnel who say they were abruptly dismissed by the Justice Department and the bureau. Many of the affected employees had worked on investigations that angered Trump and his allies. "The plaintiffs were unlawfully terminated not for any cause or any legitimate reason, but only to satisfy the President's personal vendetta," the lawsuit alleged.

"The firings did not follow any internal investigation or disciplinary process within the FBI, and Plaintiffs were not given any notice, a hearing, or an opportunity to appeal. Instead, Patel claimed to rely solely upon 'Article II' to support the firings," the suit said, referring to FBI Director Kash Patel and Article II of the Constitution, which establishes the president's executive powers. Filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the 70-page complaint names the FBI, Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Department of Justice as defendants.

Background of the classified documents investigation

FBI agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago property in August 2022 under a warrant and reportedly recovered more than 100 documents bearing classified markings. In 2023, Smith's office hinted Trump on more than three dozen charges related to his alleged retention of the records and attempts to obstruct the government's efforts to retrieve them. The case was eventually dismissed by the federal judge overseeing the proceedings, who ruled that Smith had been unlawfully appointed as special counsel. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the Justice Department formally abandoned its appeal of that ruling. Blanche, who served as deputy attorney general when the employees were fired, previously said the administration had ‘cleaned house’ at the FBI by dismissing personnel associated with investigations involving Trump.

Lawsuit details access to classified case files

The complaint also provides new details about the events preceding the dismissals, particularly those involving Jennifer Bacon, a former chief of the FBI's counterintelligence section. According to the lawsuit, Bacon learned she was being dismissed shortly after an agent named Miles Starr requested access to classified investigative records connected to Plasmic Echo, the codename for the investigation into the documents retained at Mar-a-Lago.

Starr was part of Patel's Director's Advisory Team, a group of agents from across the country assigned to support the FBI director's policy objectives, the lawsuit said. He also served as the lead case agent who testified in the now-dismissed indictment accusing former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress. A federal magistrate judge later criticized that testimony and accused the FBI of several procedural failures, including failing to screen out potentially privileged materials.

The lawsuit states that Starr emailed Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky on February 23, requesting urgent access to the Plasmic Echo case files. "Starr did not explain what he needed, but stated that he was on instructions from Patel to access the case file. Bacon granted him access to all Plasmic Echo files in the FBI's case management system, with the exception of one specific subfile. The files Starr had access to contained the names of all nine Plaintiffs," the lawsuit says. Bacon and the other employees were fired less than 48 hours later, according to the complaint.

Also Read: Oregon elementary school shooting leaves multiple victims, suspected shooter dead

Lawsuit links firings to scrutiny of Kash Patel

The complaint also raises the possibility that the dismissals were intended to divert attention from negative publicity surrounding Patel's conduct at the Winter Olympics in Milan. Patel was reportedly seen on February 22 chugging a beer and, in a display of wild immaturity and lack of personal control, flinging alcohol around the US men's hockey team's locker room.

According to the lawsuit, a special agent in charge who was tasked with notifying former special agent Zach Feldman of his dismissal speculated that the decision might be related to the news reports from earlier that day about Director Patel drinking alcohol at the Winter Olympics. The complaint argues that the episode created political pressure for Patel. "This scandal proved politically perilous for Patel: he drew widespread criticism for his conduct, with numerous sources suggesting that his status with President Trump and position as Director of the FBI were in jeopardy as a result," the lawsuit said. Eight of the nine plaintiffs were dismissed that same day, while the remaining employee was fired the following day. The military strikes against Iran began on February 28.

Former FBI employees say they served with integrity

The plaintiffs' attorneys argued that the employees had extensive records of public service and were dismissed for carrying out their responsibilities. "With over a century of experience among them, these former FBI agents and analysts served our country with honor and distinction as they investigated leaks of national security and defense information, thwarted threats and attacks from our enemies, and responded to critical incidents like the Boston Marathon bombing," attorneys Margaret Donovan, Abbe Lowell and Rebecca Tinio said in a joint statement. “In return for their service, they were fired because they did their jobs, as they always did, to follow the facts and the law without bias or favour.”