Washington According to numerous current and former FBI officials, a number of senior executives who were elevated by previous Director Christopher Wray were informed on Thursday that they will either be fired or compelled to retire or quit.
A half-dozen executive assistant directors, some of the bureau’s top administrators in charge of criminal, national security, and cyber investigations, are among the senior personnel being purged. They cannot be fired without cause because they are career civil workers.
Go here to watch live political coverage.
At least two heads of field offices in Miami and Las Vegas were also targeted, according to the sources.
In a note obtained by NBC News, Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas field office, stated, “I was informed by FBIHQ today that the executive leadership at the Department of Justice plans to dismiss me from the rolls of the FBI as soon as Monday morning, along with several other FBI executives.” As you might guess, this decision has come as a shock to me because I was not provided any explanation.
Though it has now established that this was not the case in the majority of cases, NBC News earlier reported that the officials had been offered the possibility of a demotion or re-assignment.
A former official speaking to FBI personnel said there is a lot of resentment because the impacted staff aren’t regarded as political players in any way, while a current FBI official told NBC News that the move would be extremely disruptive.
CNN was the first to report on the personnel changes, and the FBI declined to comment.
Wray resigned at the end of the Biden administration after President Donald Trump nominated him to his 10-year position in 2017.
The FBI’s actions follow a string of dismissals within the first ten days of the Trump administration.
Last week, Trump dismissed 18 inspectors general, including the Department of Health and Human Services’ watchdogs as well as those from the State, Defense, and Labor departments.
In defense of the dismissals, Trump claimed that “some were unfair or were not doing the job.”
We want to hear from employees of the federal government. Please contact us using one of these methods or send us an email at [email protected] if you are willing to speak with us.
Concerned about Trump’s use of threats of retaliation against those who have questioned his actions, the Trump administration has also dismissed career lawyers at the Justice Department who worked on his prosecution.
Kash Patel has been appointed by Trump to head the FBI during his second term. During a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Patel stated that the FBI would not take retaliatory action if he was confirmed.
Zo Richards reported from New York, and Ken Dilanian from Washington.