FBI fires more agents who worked on Trump classified documents probe

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The FBI has fired additional agents who worked on an investigation into President Donald Trump, including employees who participated in the probe into his retention of classified documents, people familiar with the matter said. The firings were described as part of broader personnel changes inside the bureau under Director Kash Patel, a Trump appointee, according to those sources.

The latest round of terminations included employees who helped investigate Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort, the AP reported. That case included a high-profile FBI search of the Florida property and resulted in federal charges in Trump’s first term, accusing him of holding onto top-secret records and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them, AP said.

AP reported that the firings were confirmed to The Associated Press by multiple people familiar with the personnel moves who spoke on anonymity because they could not publicly discuss the actions. Several of those people said a total of 10 employees were fired, while one said at least 10 were fired.

The firings are part of what AP described as a broader personnel purge under Patel’s leadership. Over the last year, AP said Patel had pushed out dozens of employees who either contributed to investigations of the president or were perceived as not aligned with the administration’s agenda. The AP report also said the Justice Department has carried out similarly sweeping firings of prosecutors since Trump took office.

In addition to the classified documents investigation, AP reported that the FBI also fired agents who participated in a separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. AP said that investigation had led to criminal charges, but that it was abandoned by special counsel Jack Smith after Trump won the White House in November 2024, reflecting Justice Department legal opinions on indictment limits for sitting presidents.

The AP report said the FBI Agents Association condemned the firings as unlawful and endangering national security. In a statement, the association said, “These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals — ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.”

The firings were disclosed on the same day that Patel was quoted as telling Reuters that the FBI during the Biden administration had subpoenaed his phone records and those of current White House chief of staff Susie Wiles. AP reported that Patel said the action occurred in 2022 and 2023, when he and Wiles were private citizens.

Patel was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors in 2022 to testify before a grand jury in Washington in connection with the Mar-a-Lago investigation and appeared after being given immunity, AP said it had previously reported.