Fired former acting FBI chief says Patel tied job security to purging agents linked to Trump probes
Driscoll says Patel and White House officials sought to remove agents tied to January 6 and classified-documents investigations, while the Justice Department moves to dismiss his case.
- Former FBI special agent Brian Driscoll alleges FBI Director Kash Patel linked job security to a White House-directed purge of employees involved in Trump-related investigations, leading to Driscoll's firing in August 2025.
- In a meeting after his confirmation, Patel told Driscoll, "The FBI tried to put the president in jail and he hasn't forgotten it," while Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove demanded a list of 6,000 employees, citing "cultural rot."
- Bove directed Driscoll to fire eight field leaders involved in January 6 investigations, later accusing him of "insubordination" after Driscoll emailed 38,000 FBI employees about the request, an experience Driscoll said felt like profound helplessness.
- The Justice Department moved to dismiss Driscoll's lawsuit, asserting that "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."
- Driscoll alleges White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller pushed for the firings, mirroring removals of career prosecutors who worked with former Special Counsel Jack Smith on cases against Trump.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Former FBI chief broke the silence and told him how he was asked for the names of all the officials involved in Trump's investigations. Driscoll was fired last August.
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Brian Driscoll had served the FBI for nearly two decades, earning the Medal of Valor and the Shield of Bravery, when a phone call a week before Donald Trump's second inauguration changed everything. He was being offered the No 2 position at the bureau and told that if he declined, a political appointee would fill the role. He accepted reluctantly, unaware of what the vetting process would reveal. In his first interview since being dismissed in A…
One Kash Patel comment 'made the hair on the back of my neck stand up': ex-FBI deputy
A decorated FBI special agent has detailed a White House-directed purge of the bureau aimed at removing employees involved in investigations into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and former President Donald Trump's classified documents case, according to an exclusive CNN interview.Brian Driscoll, who served as acting FBI director for one month before Kash Patel's confirmation, told CNN in his first public interview that he faced political vetting questio…
'Disgusted' ex-FBI acting director says he was asked by chief if he voted for Trump
Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll oversaw the Bureau before Kash Patel and Dan Bongino took over, and, in a new tell-all interview, he revealed a clash with President Donald Trump's administration that sought to fire anyone who didn't vote for the president.In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Driscoll exposed the loyalty test in which he was probed over his "politics, who he voted for, when he started supporting Trump and whether he’d voted f…
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