Nine former FBI employees have sued the bureau, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department over their February 2026 dismissals. They say they were fired for working on Jack Smith’s classified-records investigation and allege they received no notice, hearing or chance to appeal. Their complaint points to public comments, the timing of the dismissals and access to investigative files as evidence of political motive. The underlying Trump records charges were dismissed after a judge ruled Smith was unlawfully appointed, and the Justice Department abandoned its appeal after Trump won the 2024 election. The new lawsuit remains unresolved, and the report gives no court deadline or official explanation for the firings beyond the complaint’s account of reliance on Article II.
TLDR: The lawsuit by nine former FBI employees challenges dismissals they connect to their work on the classified-records investigation. Their claims about political motive and missing process remain allegations, and no ruling or deadline in the new case is reported.
Nine former FBI employees filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging their dismissals after working on former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified records. The plaintiffs include former special agents, intelligence analysts and staff operations specialists. Their 70-page complaint names the FBI, FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department as defendants.
The complaint says the employees were fired because of their work on the investigation, not for a legitimate performance or conduct reason. The excerpt provides no official explanation for the dismissals beyond the lawsuit’s account that Patel relied on Article II, the constitutional provision covering presidential executive powers. The stated rationale for the firings is therefore not established in the available material.
The employees say the dismissals violated their rights and lacked basic internal procedures. They allege there was no FBI investigation or disciplinary process, and that they received no notice, hearing or chance to appeal. Those are allegations in a lawsuit, not findings by a court.
The firings took place over two days in February 2026. Eight plaintiffs were dismissed on one day and the ninth the next day, according to the report. The timing coincided with a period when the United States and Israel were preparing to begin military strikes against Iran, though the complaint’s claims about the reasons for the firings remain disputed allegations.
The case traces back to the FBI’s investigation of classified records recovered at Mar-a-Lago. Agents executed a search warrant there in August 2022 and allegedly recovered more than 100 documents bearing classified markings. Smith’s office brought more than three dozen charges in 2023 related to Trump’s alleged retention of the records and efforts to obstruct the government’s attempts to retrieve them.
A federal judge later dismissed those charges, ruling that Smith had been unlawfully appointed special counsel. After Trump won the 2024 election, the Justice Department formally abandoned its appeal of that ruling. The current lawsuit concerns the employees’ terminations, rather than a new decision on the underlying records case.
The plaintiffs cite public comments by senior officials as evidence that the dismissals were politically motivated. Blanche, who was deputy attorney general when the employees were fired, said the administration had “cleaned house” at the FBI by dismissing employees associated with investigations involving Trump. The complaint presents that comment as relevant to its claims; it does not establish a court finding about motive.
The filing also describes events involving Jennifer Bacon, then a counterintelligence section chief, and agent Miles Starr. On February 23, Starr emailed Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky seeking urgent access to files for the investigation, known by the codename Plasmic Echo, the lawsuit says. Starr reportedly said he was acting on Patel’s instructions but did not explain what he needed.
Bacon granted access to the Plasmic Echo files in the FBI’s case management system except for one specific subfile, according to the complaint. The lawsuit says the files Starr could access contained the names of all nine plaintiffs. Bacon and the others were fired less than 48 hours later, a sequence the plaintiffs include in their account of the dismissals.
The complaint further links the timing to public scrutiny of Patel. It says that on February 22 he was seen at the Winter Olympics in Milan drinking beer and throwing alcohol in the U.S. men’s hockey team locker room. One special agent in charge assigned to notify former agent Zach Feldman reportedly speculated that Feldman’s firing might relate to news reports about Patel’s conduct. The lawsuit alleges that the episode created political pressure, but the excerpt does not establish that it caused the firings.
On February 25, Patel told Reuters that his phone records and those of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had been subpoenaed as part of Smith’s investigations, according to the report. The military strikes against Iran began on February 28. The sequence supplies context for the plaintiffs’ claims, but timing alone does not resolve whether the dismissals were lawful or what motivated them.
The practical impact is direct for the nine former employees: they lost their FBI positions, and they are now seeking relief through federal court. Their complaint says they were not given notice, a hearing or an internal appeal, while the article identifies no filing fee, additional required form, court deadline or compliance order. No court ruling on this lawsuit is reported, and the FBI and Justice Department had been contacted for comment.
The case also raises a clear question of institutional accountability: how much discretion agency leadership has to remove personnel, and what process applies when employees say a dismissal was political. The lawsuit asks the court to examine those claims, but its filing does not decide them. The next steps are the court process and any response from the defendants; those are necessary steps for testing the allegations and determining what oversight applies.
Ben Taylor serves as the Senior Correspondent and Investigations Lead for Just Right News, where he anchors the network’s commitment to government transparency and institutional accountability. With a career defined by a relentless pursuit of the facts, Taylor spearheads the acclaimed feature series “The Paper Trail,” a deep-dive investigative column that prioritizes primary source documentation over political rhetoric. Based in the heart of the nation’s capital, he has earned a reputation as one of the most formidable investigative journalists in Washington, D.C., known specifically for his mastery of public records and the Freedom of Information Act.
Taylor’s approach to journalism is deeply rooted in his upbringing in Kansas City, Missouri. Growing up in the “Show Me State,” he developed a healthy skepticism of centralized power and a profound respect for the common-sense values of the American heartland. This Midwestern foundation informs his reporting today, as he bridges the gap between the complex machinations of federal bureaucracy and the everyday concerns of citizens across the country. For Taylor, investigative reporting is not about chasing headlines; it is about ensuring that the government remains answerable to the people it serves.
As an African American man working within the conservative media landscape, Taylor brings a principled perspective to his beat. He views the Constitution and the right to information as the ultimate equalizers in a free society. His work often highlights how bureaucratic overreach and lack of transparency disproportionately affect individual liberties. By focusing on the “paper trail,” Taylor strips away the spin of partisan talking points, instead providing Just Right News readers with the raw data and internal communications that reveal how their tax dollars are spent and how policy decisions are actually made.
In his role as Investigations Lead, Taylor oversees a team dedicated to uncovering the stories that mainstream outlets often overlook. Whether he is auditing federal spending, investigating regulatory overreach, or exposing inefficiencies within the administrative state, his methodology remains consistent: follow the evidence wherever it leads. His presence in Washington, D.C., allows him to maintain a constant watch over the halls of power, yet he remains steadfastly connected to his roots, ensuring his reporting reflects the clarity and directness of his Missouri home.
Throughout his tenure at Just Right News, Taylor has become a vital voice for those who demand integrity in public office. He believes that a well-informed electorate is the strongest defense against government overreach, and he has dedicated his career to providing the public with the tools they need to hold their leaders accountable. Through “The Paper Trail” and his broader investigative work, Ben Taylor continues to set the standard for rigorous, document-driven journalism that champions the values of transparency, individual responsibility, and the rule of law.