American Oversight Slams Purge of FBI Agents Tied to Investigation of Trump’s Mishandling of Classified Documents

Wednesday, responding to news that Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Kash Patel fired roughly 10 FBI employees tied to the investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of national security documents — just days after Judge Aileen Cannon granted the president’s motion to permanently bar release of Volume II of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the matter — we released the following statement slamming the retaliatory purge and ongoing efforts to bury the truth:

“Director Patel’s removal of career public servants who were carrying out a lawful investigation into the president’s willful mishandling of classified records raises profound questions about what he is trying to hide. That he purged agents for simply doing their jobs just days after Judge Cannon permanently barred the release of Volume II of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report — a taxpayer-funded report detailing the evidence and charging decisions in that case — is indefensible,” said our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. “The public was promised the most transparent administration in history. Instead, they are witnessing retaliation against law enforcement and a coordinated effort to ensure that the truth never sees the light of day. This kind of interference damages trust in our institutions and shows that FBI leadership is putting the president’s personal interests ahead of the American people.”

In December, Smith spent more than eight hours testifying behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee. There, he revealed that his investigation produced “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that President Trump unlawfully attempted to overturn the 2020 election and that he had uncovered “powerful evidence” that the president willfully retained highly classified documents after leaving office.

Last week, in an extension of her unprecedented deference to President Trump, Judge Cannon granted motions filed by the president and his co-conspirators to permanently block the release of Volume II of Smith’s final report, preventing the public from accessing the full account of the evidence and the report’s findings. In a separate order, Judge Cannon also denied our joint motion with the Knight First Amendment Institute seeking a stay of proceedings while our appeal of her decision preventing our participation in the criminal proceedings to seek the report’s release is pending with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Our appeal of the denial of an earlier motion to intervene is currently before the Eleventh Circuit, with oral arguments tentatively scheduled in June.