Two former FBI agents sue director Kash Patel, claiming they were fired for working on Trump’s 2020 election investigation

WASHINGTON: Two former FBI agents filed a lawsuit on Thursday against agency director Kash Patel, alleging they were fired because they worked on an investigation into US President Donald Trump.

Trump was accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election where he lost to Joe Biden but the case was dropped in 2024, in line with a Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

In a 41-page complaint filed Thursday, the two agents alleged that Patel “terminated their FBI employment based solely on their assignment to Arctic Frost,” the agency’s codename for the Trump investigation, which they said violated their constitutional rights.

Trump commented on Truth Social in January that FBI agents who took part in Arctic Frost were “Scum” and “Radical Left Lunatics”, according to the lawsuit.

Patel replied to that post saying that the agency “found the corrupt actors and terminated their employment last year.”

The agents, who were given pseudonyms, had received “exemplary” ratings and were never subject to disciplinary action until they were “summarily fired” by Patel between late October and early November, they said in their complaint.

“No internal investigation, notice, or hearing preceded their firings. Nor were plaintiffs presented with any evidence purportedly supporting their firings or given an opportunity to appeal,” they wrote.

They added that they played minor or supporting roles in Arctic Frost.

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI and the Justice Department were also named as defendants.

The plaintiffs asked the court to reinstate their positions and to declare that the terminations violated their rights to free speech and due process under the US Constitution.

 The Sun Malaysia