FBI agents who "simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" while investigating the Capitol riot shouldn't fear firing or other punishment, a top Justice Department official says. In an email to the FBI workforce Wednesday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the people who should be "concerned" are "those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI," NPR reports.
Bove's email, sent the same day that Attorney General Pam Bondi was sworn in, said a list of agents who worked on the Jan. 6 and President Trump investigations was compiled in response to "insubordination" from FBI leaders who would not identify the "core team," Politico reports.
- "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 said, referring to an order Trump issued on Jan. 20.
- The Trump order accused the Biden administration of "weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community."
- Reuters reports that the Justice Department will defend itself Thursday against a lawsuit from FBI personnel seeking to protect the identities of up to 6,000 agents and other employees who worked on the investigations.
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