By ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump administration officials are moving to fire FBI agents engaged in investigations involving President Donald Trump in the coming days, two people familiar with the plans said Friday.
It was not clear how many agents might be affected, but officials acting at the direction of the administration were working to identify individual agents who could be terminated, said the people who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Among the politically explosive investigations involving Trump over the last four years are inquiries into his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his hoarding of classified documents, as well as hundreds of criminal cases against rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment, and an FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
The terminations would be a major blow to the historic independence of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency and would reflect Trump’s determination to bend the law enforcement and intelligence community to his will.
It’s part of a startling pattern of retribution waged on federal government employees, following the forced ousters of a group of senior executives earlier this week as well as a mass firing by the Justice Department of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who investigated Trump.
The firings would be done over the will of the acting FBI director Brian Driscoll, who has indicated that he objects to the idea, the people said.