Top FBI agent forced to resign after sending defiant email about list of Jan. 6 investigators

A top agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation said he was forced to resign but was not given a reason for the decision.

James Dennehy led the largest field office of the FBI and said in an email to colleagues that he had been told to issue his resignation on Friday, according to the New York Times.

His resignation likely meant that the Trump administration will follow through with the firings.

Dennehy, who is a former Marine, was reportedly given a choice of resigning or to be fired, according to sources who spoke to NBC News.

“Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did,” Dennehy wrote. “I was not given a reason for this decision.”

Some tied his resignation to an email he had sent a month ago in response to the request from the Department of Justice for a list of names of the agents who worked on the cases related to the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own as good people are being walked out of the FBI,” Dennehy wrote at the time. “And others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy.”

He added, “Time for me to dig in.”

NBC reported that Dennehy likely prevented the mass firing of the FBI agents and his resignation likely meant that the Trump administration will follow through with the firings.

Others believed the decision was related to the bungled release of documents in the Jeffrey Epstein child trafficking case.

Dennehy was also the agent who announced the charges of corruption against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat. Those charges have since been dropped after reported pressure from the Trump administration.

“Today’s indictment serves as a sobering moment but also sends a powerful message to every elected official in this country,” said Dennehy at the time. “Public service is a profound responsibility, and it should be a noble calling. When that’s perverted by greed and dishonesty, it robs us of our trust.”

Critics accused Adams of participating in a dishonest quid pro quo agreement with the Trump administration but he denied the allegation. Several attorneys working at the department quit rather than go along with the dismissal of charges.

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