As the fear of the massive shots turns through the FBI, the interim director Brian Driscoll, the head of the Office of the New York Field of the Office, and a group of agents reassured the employees and withdrew against the efforts of the efforts of The Trump administration to expel FBI officials.
The restlessness occurs after President Donald Trump publicly praised the layoffs of eight best FBI career executives on Friday after forgiving almost all fuss of January 6 after assuming the position for his second term.
In a message to FBI staff members on Saturday night, Driscoll, the interim director, said the Trump administration again is looking for the names of each FBI agent who worked on the investigations of January 6, a number that a number that a number that He has said is thousands.
“I want to assure you that we continue working with the Department of Justice to better understand the purpose for which the lists I mentioned yesterday are sought,” Driscoll wrote.
On Sunday afternoon, the FBI agents association sent employees a notice that some agents had received an email from senior officials who ordered them to answer a “12 -question survey” asking about their participation in cases of the cases of the January 6, according to two people who received him.
“We have confirmed that this is accurate and we anticipate that a large majority of our members will receive this,” the association wrote, which represents the agents but is not a union. “At this time, we recommend postponing the leadership of your division on how to handle these surveys.”
Regarding one of the questions, the association recommended that the agents respond with the following writing: “I have been told that I am” forced to answer “to this survey, without giving them appropriate time to investigate my answers, talk to others , talk to the lawyer.
The association recommended that they also wrote: “The best thing I can and belief, I have done my duties according to … the constitution of the United States.”
The legal experts, as well as the current and previous officials of the FBI, say that the Trump administration seems to be free January 6, 2021.
“This is completely triggered waters,” said the professor at the State University of Pennsylvania, Douglas Charles, who specializes in the history of the FBI. “There have been moments, different points, where the FBI has been reorganized. This is not that. … It simply seems to be a wholesale dismantling of the independent culture of the FBI. ”
Trump’s choice for the FBI director, Kash Patel, promised during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday that “all FBI employees will be protected from political compensation.”
But just over 24 hours later, Emil Bove, the Interim Attached Attorney General and the former Trump defense lawyer, ordered Driscoll to eliminate the eight FBI’s career executives and requested the names of all the agents who worked in the cases of January 6.
If the Senate confirms Patel, could immediately eliminate Driscoll and collect the names of the agents who worked in the cases of January 6. Patel could place those administrative license agents, transfer them to new positions or try to say goodbye. The exact date of the confirmation vote of the Patel Senate is not publicly known.
ASSESS ASSOCIATION ADVICE
On Saturday, the FBI agents association issued a statement that expresses concern for what they said are more efforts to force FBI agents to quit smoking.
“There are several among our ranks that are very afraid of being eliminated, and some of them have begun to pack their desks,” members told the members in a bulletin.
The message gave advice to what to do if they think they run the risk of being fired. “Do not give up or offer to give up,” the message said. “While we would never advocate for physical breach, it should be clear that its elimination is not voluntary.”
“Keep calm and refrain from making any statement that can be considered to violate Hatch’s law,” he added, referring to the law that prohibits federal public officials from participating in political activities. “If you are told to be completed, make sure Finish, make sure it is finished.
In his message to the FBI staff on Saturday, Driscoll said that agents do not choose the cases assigned to work, and said that simply working in a controversial issue is not evidence of misconduct.
“As special career agents, and other FBI employees, we know firsthand that none of us is assigned to issues based on anything other than the responsibilities of the roles we serve,” Driscoll wrote. “So let it be absolutely clear that we do not see anyone’s identification in one of these lists as an indicator of misconduct.”
He continued saying that FBI agents receive protections from civil service if they are referred to the discipline. The rules are designed, in part, to avoid the interference of elected officials in the criminal investigations of the office.
“This well -established process guarantees responsibility and offers employees due process and review in accordance with existing policy and law,” he added. “That process and our intention to follow it have not changed.”
On Friday, the Society of former FBI agents also criticized the apparent efforts to expel officials.
“We are very altered to know that FBI employees are being submitted to requests for their resignation or retirement or face a dismissal of an immediate summary,” he said. “They are not provided with these personnel actions and the required due process is not granted.”
Driscoll support
On Friday, Driscoll, the interim director of the FBI and the head of the Office’s Newark Field Office, refused to make an effort to fire a greater number of agents involved with the cases of January 6, they told NBC News A NBC FBI officials. Driscoll resisted so strongly that some feared to be fired.
In a message that circulated widely among the FBI staff, an FBI agent summed up what happened as: “In a nutshell, the Department of Justice approached and wanted to fire a lot of J6 agents. Driscoll is an absolute stallion. He kept firm and told Wh Proxy, Doj, to go out. “
A former FBI official who knows Driscoll well said: “It was delayed strongly.”
A senior FBI official played the accounts of current and previous officials, saying: “It is not true.”
In an email separated on Sunday, the head of the Field Office of Los Angeles of the Office, Akil Davis, reassured his employees on his state, according to multiple sources familiar with his message.
Davis dismissed media reports at the end of last week that members of the FBI leadership team in Los Angeles had been eliminated, saying that the team remained intact.
As for the employees involved in the cases of January 6, Davis acknowledged that the reviews were causing confusion and concern among the employees, but pointed out that he and other FBI leaders were in the process of addressing them, the sources said.
James Dennehy, the boss widely respected from the FBI New York field office, vocally praised Driscoll in an email to his staff on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A spokesman for the FBI New York Field Office declined to comment on the email, which was first informed by the New York Times.
Dennehy, a former Marine who leads the country’s largest FBI field, urged the agents to “dig” and praised Driscoll for defending the independence of the office.
“Today, we are in the midst of our own battle, since good people are being outflows,” Dennehy wrote. “And others are being attacked because they did their job according to the law and the FBI’s policy.”
