Nine ex-FBI employees sue Trump administration over firings linked to classified documents probe

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Donald Trump’s administration has fired dozens of FBI and other law enforcement personnel associated with the investigations, which the president has consistently decried as “political witch hunts.” — AFP pic

First Published: Friday, 16 Oct 2026 8:57 AM MYT

WASHINGTON, Ocy 16 — Nine FBI employees who were fired this year—who had all worked on the criminal probe of President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents—filed suit yesterday demanding their reinstatement.

The nine agents and analysts were all abruptly dismissed in February by FBI director Kash Patel, a close ally of Trump.

They argue in their lawsuit that the firings were acts of “political retribution” for working on the classified documents case, which notably involved a raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump was ultimately charged with criminally retaining classified documents at the estate, where he moved after leaving office in 2021.

That case and other federal criminal charges related to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election were dropped after he won the 2024 election.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump’s administration has fired dozens of FBI and other law enforcement personnel associated with the investigations, which the president has consistently decried as “political witch hunts.”

At the same time, the FBI under Patel has launched probes and sought criminal charges against several of the president’s perceived political opponents.

“Plaintiffs were unlawfully terminated not for any cause or any legitimate reason, but only to satisfy the President’s personal vendetta,” the FBI employees argue in their suit, filed in federal court in the US capital.

The Trump administration is also facing several other suits by fired FBI agents challenging their dismissals. — AFP