The Trump administration has intensified its actions against federal workers connected to probes examining alleged wrongdoing by the president during his first term, with multiple FBI personnel reportedly dismissed today over their role in the Mar-a-Lago search.
FBI Director Kash Patel removed at least six employees tied to the 2022 operation at Trump’s Florida property on Thursday, according to sources cited by NBC, who also said the total number of terminations may have reached the double digits.
Those affected were said to span several roles, from support staff to case agents and supervising personnel who helped execute the search that located classified government materials kept at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office in 2020.
That discovery later contributed to Trump and several associates being charged federally by special counsel Jack Smith—marking the first time a former U.S. president faced a federal indictment. The case was ultimately thrown out following legal disputes, including questions raised by a Trump-appointed judge over Smith’s appointment.
Neither the FBI nor Patel immediately issued confirmation of the reported dismissals. However, the organization representing FBI agents said the firings had taken place, criticizing the move as punishment for carrying out investigative duties related to Trump and alleged Espionage Act concerns after he left office.
Reports indicate the terminated employees were connected specifically to the classified-documents matter, rather than other Trump-related inquiries that followed the January 6 Capitol riot.
In a sharply worded response, the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) accused Patel of disregarding due process protections for the bureau’s roughly 38,000 employees and warned that the decision would leave the country less secure.
They said in a statement: “The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which—like other firings by Director Patel—violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country.”
The statement continued: “These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals—ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.”
The union’s rebuke appeared to have little impact on Patel, who also used the day to lash out at prior FBI leadership over investigative steps taken during earlier Trump-related probes—cases he claims have since been abandoned after he took office.
Earlier, Reuters reported that the FBI had used sealed subpoenas to obtain phone records for Patel and another person close to Trump as part of the investigation into classified materials found throughout Mar-a-Lago, including in Trump’s bedroom and a shower area.
Without presenting evidence of wrongdoing, Patel told Reuters: “It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight.”