FBI Investigators Will Not Be Punished For Just Following Orders

The freakout over Trump’s order to give the administration the names of FBI employees who participated in the January 6th investigations has, expectedly, turned out to be much ado about relatively little. 

The order was required by the insubordination of an FBI manager who refused to turn over the names of the core investigative team who abused their power, not to create a massive list of agents to be targeted for retribution. 

Top DOJ official says FBI employees who ‘simply followed orders’ on Jan 6 investigations won’t be fired https://t.co/RVWxepJd7R

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) February 5, 2025

Frankly, I am not surprised by this development. There was no way that a significant percentage of FBI agents would be fired just for completing assignments.  Democrats have been screaming about Trump putting together a “hit list,” which was the height of absurdity. 

FBI employees who “simply followed orders” with respect to their investigations into Jan. 6 defendants will not be fired or face any other penalties, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove confirmed in an internal memo.

Bove’s memo this week accused Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of refusing to reply to requests from President Donald Trump’s administration to identify “the core team in Washington, D.C. responsible for the investigation relating to events on January 6, 2021.”

“That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove wrote.

“Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove continued. “The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”

No doubt many FBI employees participated in the weaponization of government–the agency has been politicized to such an extent that the malefactors need to be rooted out. But investigators just doing the jobs assigned to them are not going to be targeted for discipline. 

Democrats are desperate and throwing crap against the wall to see what sticks. DOGE and Elon Musk have been the main targets of their criticism, but hardly the only ones. 

In case you’re wondering how the FBI missed the New Orleans terrorist attack on New Year’s Day, they had over 5,000 personnel tracking down grandparents who took selfies in the Capitol on January 6th. That’s how! pic.twitter.com/mjm6T7QMBv

— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) February 4, 2025

It’s hard to know exactly how the line will be drawn when deciding who will be disciplined and at what level, but it will be nowhere near 15% of the FBI workforce. 

But anybody who authorizes raids like these against peaceful protesters should be punished. 

The FBI spent nearly 4 years raiding the homes of peaceful protesters.

These FBI employees claim they’re living their lives in terror because the Trump administration is looking to hold them accountable.

These people don’t know what terror is.

This is what actual terror is… pic.twitter.com/bD5cFAmmXs

— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) February 5, 2025

The people who did this absolutely should be punished.