Kash Patel Fired Agents Who Were Against Trump To Retain Post: Ex-FBI Chief's Explosive Claims

Last Updated:May 12, 2026, 23:21 IST

Ex-FBI acting chief Brian Driscoll alleged that the Trump administration carried out a purge of the agency, targeting employees involved in investigations against the president.

Former FBI acting chief Brian Driscoll, who served in a position before Kash Patel was confirmed by the Senate to lead the agency, revealed shocking details about how the functioning of the bureau was deeply tied to politics, targeting those who worked on cases against US President Donald Trump.

Driscoll was fired by Kash Patel in 2025 and is now suing the Trump administration for wrongful termination. Speaking to CNN, the ex-FBI acting chief revealed that his appointment largely depended on his personal politics, including who he voted for and when he started supporting Trump.

The former agent revealed shocking details about a White House-directed purge of FBI employees who were involved in the investigations into the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots as well as other cases related to Trump. At one point, Patel bluntly told Driscoll that Trump had not forgotten that the FBI “tried to put him in jail."

Kash Patel’s Job Security

Driscoll also recalled Patel telling him that his own job security as the newly confirmed FBI director depended on removing agents who had worked on cases against Trump.

He told CNN that he was once asked by then-deputy attorney general Emil Bove to produce a list of all FBI employees, some 6,000 names, who had been involved in investigations linked to Trump, including one where he was accused of mishandling classified files. When he questioned the move, he was told that there was “cultural rot in the FBI."

According to Driscoll, Bove told him that White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller wanted to see firings at the FBI similar to those that had just happened at the Justice Department, where several federal prosecutors who had worked with former special counsel Jack Smith – who pursued criminal cases against Trump – were fired.

The former agent said he was given a list of eight field leaders and executive directors to fire over their involvement in the January 6 riots. When he pleaded to let some individuals get to retirement to retain their pension and benefits, he received a termination memo for the agents that said they could retire by a certain date or be fired.

‘Insubordinate’ Move To Save Employees

Unwilling to follow the decision, Driscoll sent a bureau-wide email to all 38,000 FBI employees informing them of Bove’s request for additional names involved in January 6 investigations. That triggered an angry response from the administration, with Bove accusing Driscoll of “insubordination".

He was later fired by Kash Patel. Driscoll had served as an FBI special agent for nearly two decades, earning the FBI Medal of Valor and Shield of Bravery for actions under fire.

“You take all of these highly experienced people with the perspective gained through that experience, through success and failure alike, and remove them. It’s devastating to the workforce, not just for the morale, but also the stability of the organisation and the faith in it from the people inside of it and the people outside of it," he told CNN.

News world Kash Patel Fired Agents Who Were Against Trump To Retain Post: Ex-FBI Chief's Explosive Claims

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