A Sprawling Suit by Three Fired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Officials provides a Disturbing Account of Efforts by Top Trump (R) Aides, to Strip the Bureau of its Independence. The White House has Exerted Extraordinary Influence over Decisions at the FBI, issuing Political Loyalty Tests and directly Ordering the Firings of Agents targeted by Trump (R) and His Allies, according to a Lawsuit filed on Wednesday, by Three former Bureau Officials who Accused the Administration of Illegally Dismissing them.
The Sprawling Suit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, provides a Disturbing Account of what it describes as Efforts by Trump’s Top Aides to Strip the Bureau of its Century-Long History of Independence. It Paints an Unflattering Portrait of the FBI Director, Kash Patel (R), as a Middleman Executing the Orders of Top Justice Department and White House Officials, including Stephen Miller (R), Trump’s Chief Domestic Policy Adviser.
The Former Officials who brought the Suit: Brian J. Driscoll Jr., Steven J. Jensen, and Spencer L. Evans, once had Senior Positions in the FBI. They Accused Patel of Dismissing them as part of “a campaign of retribution for their failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.”
“Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the F.B.I. over protecting the American people,” the Lawsuit said. The Lawsuit former Top FBI Officials Filed over their Dismissals, that describe Enormous Influence by the White House. Over 68 pages, the Suit describes previously Unreported Accounts about Key Trump Appointees, including: Patel, Miller, and Emil Bove III, a former Senior Justice Department Official, recently named to Serve as a Federal Appeals Court Judge.
The Lawsuit describes Patel and His Top Deputy, Dan Bongino (R), Right-Wing Influencers with far Less Experience than any of their Predecessors, as almost Cartoonish figures more interested in Social Media or Handing out Oversized “Challenge Coins” than in Rrunning the Day-to-Day Operations of the Nation’s Flagship Law Enforcement Agency. The Three former Officials Repeatedly Accuse Patel of what, in their View, is a Cardinal Sin of Bureau Leadership: Refusing to Stand-Up for Career Field Agents who make the Bureau Run.
Brian J. Driscoll Jr., Steven J. Jensen, and Spencer L. Evans, All once Occupied Senior Positions in the FBI., provided many previously Unreported Accounts of Actions by key Trump Appointees in the Suit. The Lawsuit Detailed what they described as an Episode of Appalling Cruelty: Patel’s Firing of a Veteran Agent, Walter Giardina, who was Forced to Defend His Reputation as His Wife was Dying of Adrenal Cancer. Patel, who as a Podcaster and Trump Campaign Surrogate Denounced the Biden (D) Administration’s “weaponization” of the Bureau, has been an enthusiastic Public Supporter of the FBI’sWwork on a Range of Investigations since Taking over its Leadership. He has said any Personnel Changes have been to Reform the Bureau.
Still, the Lawsuit accuses Miller and Bove, who Effectively led the Justice Department in the First months of the Administration, of Running Roughshod over Institutional Independence by Ordering the Dismissals of Longtime Agents for No Reason, other than a “lack of confidence that they would carry out the president’s agenda.” At the Center of this Effort, according to the Suit, was Miller, whose Influence has at times Exceeded the Power exercised by the Senate Confirmed Officials nominally in Charge of the DOJ and the FBI. “Bove stated that he was receiving pressure from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to see ‘symmetrical action at the F.B.I. as had been happening at D.O.J.,’” the Lawsuit said. “Bove made clear that he and Miller wanted to see personnel action like reassignment, removals and terminations at the FBI.”
The Order to get Rid of Giardina and Chris Meyer, another Agent who until recently Served as Patel’s Pilot, was also Driven by Far-Right Criticism and Misinformation on Social Media that had been forwarded to top White House Aides, including Miller, the Lawsuit said. In the Filing, the former Officials suggest Giardina and Meyer were everything that Patel and Bongino were Not: Decorated Combat Veterans with Decades of Investigative Experience, Abiding Respect for the Institution, and a Disdain for Self-Promotion.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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