FBI Agents Sue DOJ to Stop Disclosure of Jan. 6 Probe Roles (2)

Two groups of FBI agents are seeking court orders to prevent President Donald Trump’s Justice Department from keeping and publishing a list of bureau employees who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, saying they fear it could be used to target them for retaliation.

One lawsuit filed in Washington federal court seeks to stop the Justice Department from singling out current and former officials who worked on Jan. 6 investigations or prosecutions, as well as the investigation into whether Trump mishandled classified information. The agents fear the list might be published by Trump allies, putting them in danger of retribution by the now-pardoned Jan. 6 convicted felons, according to the complaint.

“The very act of compiling lists of persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel, and to discourage them from reporting any future malfeasance and by Donald Trump and his agents,” according to the lawsuit.

A second lawsuit also was filed Tuesday in Washington federal court seeking to prevent the Justice Department from collecting or publishing personal information of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases. The lawsuit was filed by FBI special agents represented by lawyers who specialize in national security matters.

The FBI declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. The Justice Department declined to comment on the lawsuits and whether the FBI has provided the list of agents.

This comes as the Trump administration is overhauling the federal workforce, including at the Justice Department, which recently terminated and reassigned employees who worked on the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack.

Read More: FBI Firings, Jan. 6 Agent Probe Sharpen Trump DOJ Reshaping

Acting Director Brian Driscoll said in a memo Friday reviewed by Bloomberg that the request for the list covered thousands of FBI employees around the country, including him. “We are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always,” he wrote.

The first complaint seeks an emergency injunction. It names Acting Attorney General James McHenry, saying the agents were informed the list would be shared with senior members in the Trump administration, which they believe will expose them to retaliation.

“Donald Trump has made repeated public pronouncements of his intent to exact revenge upon persons he perceives to be disloyal to him by simply executing their duties in investigating acts incited by him and persons loyal to him,” according to the lawsuit.

Center for Employment Justice, a legal services firm that fights discrimination the workplace, said in the lawsuit the plaintiffs are seeking to represent a class of at least 6,000 current and former FBI agent who participated in the investigation and prosecutions of Trump.

The cases are Doe v. Department of Justice, 25-cv-325, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Agents Association v. Department of Justice, 25-cv-328, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

(Updates with DOJ declines to comment. An earlier version corrected lawsuit goal in second paragraph.)

To contact the reporters on this story:
Sabrina Willmer in Washington at swillmer2@bloomberg.net;
Chris Strohm in Washington at cstrohm1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Elizabeth Wasserman, Ben Bain

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