Washington — According to a court order issued Friday, the Justice Department has stated that the federal government will not publicly divulge the names of FBI agents who worked on the now-closed investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
The Justice Department and a number of unnamed FBI agents reached an agreement in which the government stated that it would not reveal a list of the agents’ names created by the FBI and sent to the Justice Department on Tuesday unless the agents were given two days’ notice.
Following a hearing on Thursday, the two sides agreed to the order, which was part of two cases brought earlier this week by anonymous FBI agents and the FBI Agents Association to prevent the Justice Department from disclosing the list of agents.
Natalie Bara, president of the FBI Agents Association, stated that the organization welcomes the ruling, which allows them to return to court and challenge any planned exposure of the agents’ and employees’ identities.
“This is an important step in the right direction to protect those who protect us — FBI agents who have dedicated their careers to upholding the rule of law and defending our country,” according to her statement. “This agreement provides crucial safeguards, preventing quick public exposure or retaliation while allowing FBI agents to remain focused on defending the American people. We welcome the court’s recognition of the important issues at hand.
President Trump told reporters at the White House that he does not intend to remove all FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations, but will fire “some” because he believes they were “corrupt.”
“I learned a lot about that company and the world. I learned a lot about that society, and we had some corrupt agents, but they are or will be removed promptly and cleanly,” he remarked.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, who is handling the two cases, imposed a brief administrative stay preventing the Justice agency from exposing the list to anybody outside the agency while lawyers for the FBI agents and the department negotiated overnight.
They were scheduled to reassemble on Friday to resume the hearing, but it was canceled due to the agreement. The Justice Department and FBI agents agreed to file briefs on a more permanent injunction later this month and into March, and Cobb scheduled a hearing on March 27.
According to a memo reviewed by CBS News, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll last week to compile a list of all current and former FBI employees who were assigned “at any time” to a Jan. 6 investigation “to determine whether any additional personnel actions are required.” In response, agents throughout the country were asked on Sunday to fill out questionnaires describing their involvement in the Jan. 6 and Trump investigations as part of a Justice Department personnel evaluation.
Initially, the FBI provided employee identification numbers and other identifying information for over 5,000 survey respondents. However, sources told CBS News that Driscoll was later required to give the names of the FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 cases. Driscoll stated in a message to FBI personnel that he had followed the directions and that the names had been provided through a classified system, according to sources.
The Justice Department verified in the most recent court filing that it alerted counsel for the FBI agents who filed the complaints that a record matching the employee identification numbers on the list with the associated names of FBI personnel had been provided to the Justice Department.
In a separate memo acquired by CBS News, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove warned FBI personnel that agents who followed directions and performed their duties in a “ethical manner” throughout the Jan. 6 investigations would not face disciplinary action. Bove further disclosed that acting FBI leadership declined to cooperate with initial efforts to identify specific agents linked to the investigations, citing incidents of “insubordination.”
It is unclear what personnel action Justice Department leaders may take based on the list of names. Lawyers representing the FBI agents engaged in the lawsuit have warned that the list’s goal is to identify agents who may face “adverse employment action” as a result of their work on the Jan. 6 probe.
Approximately a dozen Justice Department officials who worked on former special counsel Jack Smith’s probe and prosecutions of Mr. Trump, which were dropped after he was elected in November, were fired, sources said CBS News last month. A Justice Department official stated that they were let go because then-Acting Attorney General James McHenry “did not believe these officials could be trusted to faithfully implement the president’s agenda because of their significant role in prosecuting the president.”
A different set of federal prosecutors inside the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., who were retained on an interim basis to work on the Capitol attack probes were also let go, according to a memo obtained by CBS News last week.
The staff changes occur amid leadership changes at the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi was sworn in on Wednesday after the Senate confirmed her nominee for the top office. As Kash Patel, Mr. Trump’s choice for director, awaits confirmation, the FBI is led by an acting director. His nomination was scheduled for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, but Democrats requested a week wait for more study.
Lawyers for FBI agents had cautioned that revealing the identity of bureau officers who worked on the Jan. 6 cases would jeopardize their safety and that of their families. During the hearing on Thursday, they observed that since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term, the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, run by entrepreneur Elon Musk, has already made the names of federal employees public.
