Former FBI employees sue over alleged political firings in Trump documents case
Nine former FBI agents and analysts filed a lawsuit Thursday in a Washington D.C. federal court, alleging they were unlawfully terminated in February 2026 by FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Todd Blanche as political retaliation for work on the classified‑documents investigation against former President Donald Trump.
The plaintiffs seek reinstatement to their prior positions, back pay, damages and a declaration that the terminations violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights, raising questions about political influence over the bureau and potential national‑security ramifications.
According to the complaint, the nine employees were listed in the “Plasmic Echo” case file – the code name for the Trump classified‑documents probe. Special Agent Miles Starr accessed the file on Feb. 23 after a video showed Patel partying with the U.S. men’s hockey team at the Winter Olympics in Milan. Within days, eight of the plaintiffs were fired on Feb. 25 and the ninth on Feb. 26.
The lawsuit contends that each termination letter, signed by Director Patel, falsely accused the employees of “poor judgment and a lack of impartiality,” and that the agents were denied any due‑process protections despite a combined century of distinguished service in counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations.
“This lawsuit will prove their unlawful dismissal and hold the administration accountable for this blatant attack on the rule of law,” said plaintiffs’ attorneys Margaret Donovan, Abbe Lowell and Rebecca Tinio.
Patel has testified before Congress that the dismissed employees “weaponized” the FBI, a claim the plaintiffs reject, noting that many of the agents also participated in the 2024 investigation of an assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The complaint notes that similar firings occurred earlier in the year against agents involved in a separate probe of Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, suggesting a pattern of political retribution against FBI personnel.
Beyond the personal impact on the nine former agents, the suit argues that the abrupt dismissals disrupted ongoing counter‑intelligence and counter‑terrorism investigations, leaving critical national‑security work unfinished and “immeasurable” in its potential consequences.
The case now moves forward in federal court, where a hearing date will be set and the plaintiffs await a decision on their request for reinstatement and relief.
