Brian Driscoll, former interim FBI director, was fired, along with Steven Jensen, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. Photo / Federal Bureau of Investigation
The FBI has forced out at least three senior officials who found themselves at odds with US President Donald Trump’s administration, including a former acting director who resisted demands to fire agents involved in investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, according to people familiar with the dismissals.
Brian Driscoll, who briefly served as acting head of the bureau during the first weeks of Trump’s second term, was fired by senior leaders this week, said three people familiar with his departure and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced personnel move.
Driscoll was given no reason for his firing, the people said. But during his brief tenure at the top, he earned the respect of much of the FBI’s rank-and-file after he resisted orders from Trump Justice Department appointees to identify hundreds of agents who had been involved in the Capitol riot investigations, which agents feared could signal a wider purge.
“I regret nothing,” Driscoll wrote in a farewell message to colleagues obtained by The Washington Post. He added, “Our collective sacrifices for those we serve is, and will always be, worth it.”
Also dismissed this week were Steven Jensen, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, and Walter Giardina, an agent involved in the investigation that sent Trump’s former trade adviser Peter Navarro to prison, the people familiar with the matter said.
Prominent Trump allies had criticised the fact the officials remained at the FBI well into Director Kash Patel’s tenure and called for their ouster as part of Trump’s pledge to end what he has described as past “weaponisation” of the justice system.
Citing accusations from whistleblowers, Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, publicly accused Giardina in June of harbouring anti-Trump bias.
Jensen’s appointment in April to leadership in the Washington field office sparked backlash over his prior involvement leading a bureau domestic terrorism operations section that was centrally involved in investigating the January 6 attack.
Jensen was also involved in an effort to monitor violent incidents at school board meetings across the country – a push Republicans, including Patel, have long cited as an example of the bureau’s political bias against conservatives.
Jensen had been scheduled to appear at a news conference Thursday alongside Jeanine Pirro, Washington’s US attorney, to announce a federal hate crime indictment against Elias Rodriguez, the man accused of killing two Israeli embassy staffers in the city earlier this year. He did not attend.
Asked about his absence, Pirro responded: “I’m not going to talk about politics today. I’m talking about crime.”
Jensen, in a goodbye letter to staff, acknowledged the five months since his appointment to lead the office had “not always been easy” but he urged colleagues to remain focused on their work.
“Never waver in your resolve to answer the call to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. Continue to be bold and aggressive in the pursuit of justice,” Jensen wrote. “Most importantly, stay safe and take care of each other.”
The FBI declined to comment on the departures. But the firings are the latest in a broader effort by Trump administration officials to purge the Justice Department, FBI and other investigative agencies of employees involved in investigating Trump or his allies as well as those deemed insufficiently loyal to the President.
The FBI Agents Association, a nonprofit advocacy group that represents bureau employees, said in a statement Thursday it was “deeply concerned” about the latest wave of firings.
“Agents are not given the option to pick and choose their cases, and these agents carried out their assignments with professionalism and integrity,” it read.
The dismissals also drew condemnation from Democrats, including Senator Mark R Warner of Virginia, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
“Their firings are part of a disturbing pattern of retaliation and politicisation at an institution charged with safeguarding national security and the rule of law,” Warner said in a statement.
During his January confirmation hearing, Patel had vowed not to take action against bureau employees simply because they had worked on investigations that have drawn the President’s ire.
“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel said.
Driscoll, an agent with a nearly 20-year FBI tenure, had initially been viewed by Trump administration officials as a potential ally when they promoted him from head of the bureau’s Newark field office to the upper echelons of its leadership hierarchy.
Even so, his elevation to acting director of the FBI in January came by way of a mistake, The Post previously reported. Officials had intended to name veteran counterterrorism agent Robert Kissane to the post and make Driscoll his No 2. But when the White House issued its news release those roles were reversed. Rather than correct the mistake, officials opted to keep Driscoll in the top job, expecting Patel would be quickly confirmed to replace him.
Driscoll’s short tenure came to be defined, however, by his resistance to then-acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove’s demand in January to fire eight senior FBI executives and identify “the core team” behind the Capitol riot investigations. Driscoll refused to hand over the names – prompting Bove to accuse top FBI leaders of “insubordination”.
In response, Bove demanded the names of every FBI agent or employee across the country who had touched any of the January 6 cases.
A brief standoff ensued, ending when Driscoll eventually provided the Justice Department with a list of more than 5000 bureau personnel, identified only by employee ID number. Still, his willingness to stand up for agents earned him plaudits within the bureau and the affectionate nickname “Drizz”.
Since his stint as acting director, he has worked as assistant director of the Critical Incident Response Group, which manages the bureau’s hostage rescue team and other matters.
“Please know that it has been the honour of my life to serve alongside each of you,” he wrote in his message to colleagues. “Thank you for allowing me to stand on your shoulders throughout it all.”