FBI in ‘battle’ with Trump amid purge of officials, top agent warns staff

The assistant director at the FBI’s New York field office reportedly told staff in an email that they were in the “middle of a battle” and that it was time for him to “dig in” as the Trump administration targets bureau officials who investigated the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy,” wrote James E Dennehy, who has led the New York field office since last September, in an email viewed and reported by the New York Times.

The email came after the justice department’s recent directive to the FBI to compile the names of bureau personnel involved in investigating the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol. The justice department also informed FBI leadership last week that eight senior executives at the bureau faced termination.

Since Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, at least nine high-ranking officials at the FBI have been forced out, according to the New York Times.

In his email to staff, Dennehy reportedly said that those removals had spread “fear and angst within the FBI ranks”.

He referred to those who had departed the bureau as “extraordinary individuals” adding: “I mourn the forced retirements.”

Dennehy also reportedly stated his commitment to supporting his staff, and urged them to remain calm and to avoid making hasty decisions regarding their careers.

He also reportedly made it clear that he had no intention of stepping down.

“Time for me to dig in,” he wrote.

Dennehy, who served as an officer in the US Marine Corps for seven years before joining the FBI as a special agent in 2002, reportedly also praised the two top acting officials at the FBI, Brian Driscoll and Robert Kissane, in the email for “fighting” for the agency’s employees.

Dennehy compared the current situation to his experience as a marine in the early 1990s. He recalled digging a small 5ft-deep foxhole where he hunkered down for safety.

“It sucked,” he wrote. “But it worked.”

The uncertainty and turmoil at the FBI comes as the last week, the justice department fired over a dozen federal prosecutors involved in the two criminal cases against Trump, reportedly at the direction of the White House.