Several high -ranking leaders of the FBI expelled without explanation, the sources say
Several senior FBI officials were expelled from their work this week, sources familiar with the subject confirmed to ABC News, including the former interim director of the office who previously resisted efforts to compile a list of agents who worked in the investigation of the attack on January 6, 2021 against the United States Capitol.
The sources tell ABC News that among the informed of his endings are the former interim director of the FBI Brian Driscoll, deputy director in charge of the Washington Field Office, DC, Steven Jensen, and the agents Walter Giardina and Christopher Meyer.
It does not seem that none has been informed of the logic behind their endings, the sources said.
The shots have alarmed many base agents due to concerns about whether the movements were politically motivated, the sources said. Giardina and Meyer, for example, previously worked on investigations involving President Donald Trump.
Driscoll, which had served for almost 20 years in the office, including a variety of leadership positions, briefly rose to the role of interim director on the opening days of Trump’s presidency.
He received praise from some agents and groups of application of the law for his brief confrontation with Emil Bove, the former Trump defense lawyer who pushed Trump’s agenda in the Department of Justice before the confirmation of Attorney General PAM Bondi. Driscoll had resisted a Bove order to compile a list of all the agents that helped the investigation of the Department of Justice on January 6, which he later described in a memorandum as an act of “insubordination.”
After the Senate confirmed to Kash Patel as director of the FBI, Driscoll was assigned to lead the FBI critical incident response group.
Headquarters of the Federal Research Office at Washington DC, July 3, 2023.
Anadolu Agency through Getty Images
In his farewell email sent on Thursday to employees, which was obtained by ABC News, Driscoll said he was informed of his termination on Wednesday night and no reason for the move was given.
“I understand that you can have many questions about why, for which I currently have no answers,” Driscoll wrote, according to email. “No cause has been articulated at this time. Please, know that it has been the honor of my life to serve each of you.”
The sources said that Jensen’s dismissal was similarly as a surprise for senior leadership in the DC field office of the United States prosecutor, where Jensen appeared on Thursday at a press conference on the insult of an accusation of hate crimes accusing the suspect in the shooting of the Jewish Museum of the Capitol.
Jensen was replaced in the press event by the head of the Criminal Division of the Washington Field Office.
Asked by ABC News about the reason behind the dismissal of Jensen, Dcu lawyer Jeanine Pirro declined to answer.
“I’m not going to talk about politics today. I’m talking about crime, talking about hate crimes,” Pirro said.
FBI officials and the Department of Justice also refused to comment on the dismissals.
