FBI agents involved in investigations related to President Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department's attempt to develop a list of employees involved in those operations, fearing mass firings.
The class action lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, seeks an immediate halt to the Justice Department's plans to compile a list of investigators who participated in the probes into the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, as well as Trump's possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, estate.
The lawsuit cited by the Associated Press (AP) states that Trump, during the election campaign, declared "repeatedly that he would personify 'revenge' or 'retribution' for those he called 'political hostages' for their actions during the January 6 attack."
The agents allege that "the very act of compiling lists of people who worked on issues that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other employees and discourage them from reporting any future misconduct by Donald Trump and his agents."
The indictment also points to the Justice Department's firing last week of prosecutors from Special Counsel Jack Smith's team as evidence that the effort to compile the list is rooted in a desire for retaliation.
"Donald Trump has made repeated public statements about his intention to exact revenge on people he considers disloyal to him, simply by carrying out his duties in investigating acts incited by him and people loyal to him," the complaint said.
"Regardless of what the Trump Administration believes about the plaintiffs' political affiliations, it clearly believes that the individuals who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of the January 6 and Mar-a-Lago incidents are not sufficiently politically affiliated with Donald Trump to be entitled to keep their jobs," they added.
The association representing thousands of FBI agents had already called on congressional leaders on Monday to protect the jobs of employees who are at risk of being disciplined or eventually fired for their involvement in the Trump investigations.
The letter from the FBI Agents Association, which represents the interests of more than 14,000 active and retired agents, followed reports that thousands of employees were asked over the weekend to fill out a detailed questionnaire about their involvement in the Capitol attack investigation.
Separately, also on Monday, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote to Patel and Pam Bondi, Trump's picks to head the FBI and Justice Department, respectively, to express "grave concerns" about efforts to vet, reassign and remove career officials and demand a series of internal communications about his plans to shake up the agencies.
