Former officials blast FBI’s Patel over agent removals in scathing letter

A group of former FBI, intelligence, diplomatic and national security officials released a letter blasting FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino for firing several bureau agents, saying they were targeted for not being loyal to President Trump.

The group, which dubs itself The Steady State, claims Agents Brian Driscoll, Michael Feinberg and Walter Giardina were fired as part of a campaign to dismantle the FBI’s “long-standing independence” while also setting it up as a “tool of political loyalty.”

The Steady State also claimed the agents were canned because they were not loyal to President Donald Trump, before accusing the administration of appointing Patel and Bongino to powerful roles despite not having resumes that meet the “basic standards” to lead the “world’s premiere law enforcement agency.” 

“It is not about reform. It is about control. The aim, it seems, is to transform the FBI from a respected, constitutionally grounded investigative service into a personal enforcement arm of a political figure,” the letter reads. “We have seen these dynamics abroad—leaders who demand loyalty from security services not to the law, but to themselves. These regimes do not end well.”

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“The FBI has long been a bulwark against such corruption: an institution where rule of law and civil liberties are held in balance with the demands of national security,” the letter continued. “Its independence is not a bureaucratic feature; it is a democratic necessity.”

The Steady State told their friends and colleagues in the FBI that they recognize the pressure they are under.

“The nation is watching, and will be inspired by the FBI. And history will remember,” the letter concluded.

Last Thursday, the FBI ousted Driscoll, the former FBI acting director, as well as others, including Giardina, a special agent at the FBI who played a role in the investigation of Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro. Also let go was Steve Jensen, the acting director in charge of the Washington Field Office.

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Driscoll, for his part, served as acting director of the FBI prior to the confirmation of Patel, and Jensen played a key role in the January 6 investigations.

Senior FBI officials told the trio they needed to leave by Friday.

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The FBI, Bongino and Patel declined to comment on Fox News Digital’s questions about The Steady State’s claims and on reasons why the agents were removed from their positions.

MSNBC journalist Ken Dilanian shared on social media a copy of the letter from Patel to Giardina.

“This document provides official notice that you are being summarily dismissed from your position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and removed from the federal service, under my authority as the FBI Director, effective immediately,” Patel wrote. You have exercised poor judgment and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of the government.”

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Former FBI Agent Phil Kennedy, who has been vocal on social media regarding the new regime’s handling of personnel matters, shared The Steady State’s letter, referring to the firings as the recent FBI “purge.”

“Walter Giardina, the disgraced anti-Trump Agent who worked on Jack Smith’s documents case with Kash’s pilot, has reportedly been terminated by the FBI,” Kennedy wrote in another post. “It’s a Bureau bloodbath.”

News of the agents’ firings comes months after thousands of FBI personnel in February were ordered to fill out a questionnaire asking detailed questions about possible roles in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots.

The questionnaire, first reported by Fox News Digital, sparked concern that it could be used to retaliate against agents involved in the January 6 investigations. Those concerns reached a fever pitch later that month, after then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the bureau to compile a list of all current and former personnel who worked on January 6 cases.

The Trump administration has not yet said whether it will move to act against the individuals involved.

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In February, President Trump declined to answer questions over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that then-FBI director nominee, Patel, would “straighten it out.”

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.