Ex-FBI agents who worked on Trump cases sue agency and DoJ over firings
Source: The Guardian
Tue 31 Mar 2026 17.01 EDT
Last modified on Tue 31 Mar 2026 17.24 EDT
Three former FBI agents filed a class-action lawsuit against the bureau and justice department on Tuesday, along with the FBI director, Kash Patel, and attorney general, Pam Bondi, claiming they had been wrongfully terminated for working on the criminal cases related to Donald Trump. The agents – Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman and Michelle Ball – all worked on a public corruption squad in the FBI’s Washington field office and worked on investigations of Trump. All three were abruptly fired from the FBI last year.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington DC, seeks to represent all employees fired by the FBI since 1 January 2025, as well as those who may be terminated in the future, “on the basis of perceived political affiliation, without being afforded due process”. At least 50 former agents could be part of the proposed class, lawyers wrote in court papers.
Patel and Bondi have “embarked on a public campaign to oust Plaintiffs from federal service because Defendants perceived them to be political opponents – as if fidelity to the law and the proper execution of assignments were somehow hostile partisan acts”, the lawsuit says. “Defendants’ mission – in their own words – is retribution.”. The justice department did not immediately return a request for comment.
Since taking office last year, Trump has moved aggressively to rid the FBI and justice department of lawyers and agents who worked on Jack Smith’s investigations without giving them a chance to even challenge those findings.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/ex-fbi-agents-trump-cases-lawsuit-firings
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.290982/gov.uscourts.dcd.290982.1.0.pdf
RELATED (earlier different suit) - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143635245