DOJ Turn Tables On J6 Investigators, Orders ‘Review Process’ Ahead Of Possible FBI Purge

The Department of Justice (DOJ) fired prosecutors investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol and demanded the names of the FBI agents involved in the case ahead of a possible similar purge, The Associated Press (AP) reported Friday.

The firing — ordered by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove — affected about 12 employees at the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, the outlet reported.

More than six FBI senior executives were ordered to retire or be fired by Monday, according to a separate memo by Bove, the AP reported. Bove also reportedly asked for the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees — potentially thousands — who worked on the J6 investigations.

The DOJ would then execute a “review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary,” Bove said, according to the outlet.

Bove also said he would not “tolerate subversive personnel actions by the previous administration,” an apparent reference to the Biden administration’s promotion of the now-fired employees into permanent positions after President Donald Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, according to the outlet.

The firings follow the ousters of a number of senior FBI executives and the termination of prosecutors on special counsel Jack Smith’s team who investigated Trump, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Special Counsel Jack Smith Resigns After Finishing Trump Investigations) 

The firings also follow Trump’s blanket pardons for more than 1,500 of the J6 defendants in an Inauguration Day executive order.

The FBI Agents Association reportedly described the request for details of the J6-investigating FBI agents by Bove as “outrageous actions by acting officials” that were “fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents.”

“Dismissing potentially hundreds of Agents would severely weaken the Bureau’s ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats and will ultimately risk setting up the Bureau and its new leadership for failure,” the association said in a statement, AP reported.

The FBI has internal review processes for terminations — processes FBI Director nominee Kash Patel told senators during his Thursday confirmation hearing he would keep to, AP reported.

“As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, 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,” acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll wrote in a letter to the workforce, AP reported.