Background: FILE – Violent rioters loyal to President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File). Inset left: This still image from video from the U.S. Attorney’s Office shows James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, during a news conference, in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (U.S. Attorney’s Office via AP). Inset right: Donald Trump signs an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, aimed at ending birthright citizenship in the U.S. (Forbes).
The assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, James Dennehy, reportedly sent an email to his staff Friday telling them it’s time for him to “dig in” as the bureau finds itself “in the middle of a battle of our own” following a request from the Justice Department to turn over a list of personnel who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
The email, which was obtained by the New York Times, was sent out after the Trump administration ordered the FBI on Friday to start forming a list of employees who investigated or helped work on cases related to the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack. It comes two weeks after President Donald Trump issued pardons and commutations to all Jan. 6 rioters on his first day in office, with the newly-inaugurated president referring to their charges and convictions as a “grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years,” according to his executive order.
“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,” Dennehy wrote in the email.
“Time for me to dig in,” he said.
So far, nearly a dozen FBI officials have been booted from the agency since Trump took office, leading to “fear and angst within the FBI ranks,” according to Dennehy. The FBI believes that at least 6,000 staff members worked on Jan. 6 cases out of the bureau’s 38,000 employees.
FBI officials sent a questionnaire out over the weekend to help determine which staffers — both past and current — were involved in Jan. 6 cases, according to the Times and The Washington Post.
“I mourn the forced retirements,” Dennehy said of ousted FBI workers, describing them as “extraordinary individuals.”
The questionnaire sent out by Trump’s DOJ was reportedly given to leaders in FBI offices across the country with a deadline of 3 p.m. Monday. The 12-question survey asks officials to list their rank and whether they worked on any Jan. 6 probes, according to Politico. If they did work on an investigation, employees are reportedly asked to detail how and whether they later took part in trials.
When issuing his pardons last month, Trump claimed he was kicking off “a process of national reconciliation.” FBI leaders have been sending out emails, along with bureau-related groups — such as the FBI Agents Association — warning employees of what’s to possibly come and keeping them updated on their job status.
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“I know a lot of you have seen or heard reports that FBI executives have been asked to resign or be fired,” wrote Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Seattle field office, in an email to staff on Friday, according to the Times. “To clarify my own status, as of this writing I have not been fired or asked to resign, nor have I received any indication I might be.”
According to Politico, the FBI Agents Association told members, “We understand that this feels like agents and employees are being targeted, despite repeated assurances that ‘all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.’ Employees carrying out their duties to investigate allegations of criminal activity with integrity and within the rule of law should never be treated as those who have engaged in actual misconduct.”
