Following a Justice Department request, the FBI provided data on over 5,000 employees involved in the January 6th Capitol riot investigations, according to a CNN report. Simultaneously, FBI agents filed lawsuits seeking to shield their identities from potential harassment.
The January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol involved thousands of President Trump’s supporters protesting the 2020 election results. The event resulted in five deaths and injuries to approximately 140 police officers. Over 1,500 individuals faced federal charges. President Trump later commuted or pardoned sentences related to the riots and issued executive orders aimed at ending what he termed the “weaponization” of the federal government.
The FBI shared employee identification numbers, job titles, and roles in the January 6th investigations, but not names, with the DOJ, as reported by CNN citing unnamed sources.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove accused the FBI of “insubordination” for withholding employee names, according to internal emails cited by multiple news outlets. Bove repeatedly requested the FBI identify the “core team” involved in the investigation, as reported by Politico.
The DOJ directed the FBI to provide a complete dataset to facilitate identifying the “core team” for a review of potential “weaponization,” as per the Executive Order. Bove reportedly stated the goal was not to prosecute those who “simply followed orders,” but rather those who acted with “corrupt or partisan intent,” defied leadership, or “exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”
FBI agents anonymously filed two federal lawsuits against the DOJ and Acting Attorney General James McHenry on Tuesday to protect the identities of up to 6,000 employees.
A class-action lawsuit filed by nine anonymous agents argues the released information could endanger them and their families. The lawsuit contends that compiling a list of those who worked on matters upsetting Donald Trump is inherently retaliatory.
The suit claims that “Plaintiffs reasonably fear” that the submitted information could be published, “thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution” from individuals convicted in the January 6th cases.