The FBI has provided the US Department of Justice with details of thousands of employees involved in investigations related to the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, according to a report by CNN.

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This request has unsettled many FBI employees, who suspect it is an attempt to compile a list of individuals potentially facing dismissal under the Trump administration.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued a memo on Friday titled 'Terminations', asking FBI officials to submit the information by noon on Tuesday, CNN reported. Bove had previously dismissed eight senior FBI officials responsible for overseeing cyber, national security, and criminal investigations.

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Sources told CNN that over 5,000 records were handed over, including employee ID numbers, job titles, and their involvement in the January 6 investigations. However, names were not included. The FBI consists of more than 13,000 agents and a total workforce of around 38,000 employees.

FBI employees file class-action lawsuit against Justice Department

On Tuesday, several FBI employees filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department, claiming that the demand for agents to complete a survey violated constitutional and privacy laws. The lawsuit alleges the survey was intended to "purge" personnel from the agency.

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The plaintiffs have requested a federal judge to prevent the Trump administration from releasing or publishing the surveys and the information they contain.

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“The very act of compiling lists of persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel, and to discourage them from reporting any future malfeasance by Donald Trump and his agents,” the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the survey required agents to disclose their roles within the FBI and their specific involvement in the January 6 investigations.

This included whether they had executed arrests, participated in grand jury proceedings, or testified in court. The lawsuit was filed as a class-action complaint by several anonymous FBI employees.

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Efforts to remove individuals linked to Trump-related investigations have faced resistance from agents. In a related development, the Justice Department recently dismissed over a dozen officials involved in federal criminal investigations concerning Trump. A letter from Acting Attorney General James McHenry informed the dismissed officials that they could not be "trusted" to "faithfully" execute Trump’s agenda.

(With inputs from agencies)