Nine FBI employees sue over firings tied to Trump documents case

Former FBI staff who worked on the classified documents investigation claim they were unlawfully terminated for political reasons in February 2026.

Nine former FBI employees filed a lawsuit Thursday against the bureau, alleging they were unlawfully fired for their work on special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into former President Trump's retention of classified documents. The plaintiffs—former special agents, intelligence analysts, and staff operation specialists—were terminated over two days in February 2026 without notice, hearing, or opportunity to appeal, according to the suit.

The lawsuit names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and the Department of Justice as defendants. It alleges the firings were motivated by political animus rather than legitimate cause. One counterintelligence section chief, Jennifer Bacon, learned of her termination within 48 hours after an agent requested access to classified investigative files about the documents case at Patel's direction.

The timing of the firings coincided with negative publicity surrounding Patel, who was criticized for his conduct at the Winter Olympics in Milan on February 22. The lawsuit argues the terminations may have been an attempt to distract from this coverage. Eight of the nine employees were fired on February 25, the same day Patel disclosed in a Reuters interview that his phone records had been subpoenaed in Smith's investigation.