The writer, an FBI agent for 31 years, retired as resident agent in charge of the Ann Arbor office in 2006. He has a law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law. He is the author of "FBI Case Files Michigan: Tales of a G-Man."
By Greg Stejskal
AG Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash (FBI photo)
I think I was about ten years old when I first thought about being an FBI agent. That aspiration continued through high school, college and law school. Towards the end of my last year of law school, I applied to the Bureau and was ultimately accepted. On March 10,1975, I reported to Main Justice (Department of Justice HQ in Washington, DC).
In the room where the WWII Nazi saboteurs were tried, my fellow new agents & I took the oath to “… to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same…So help me God.” Unlike the Nazi saboteurs who swore an oath of fealty to their Fuhrer, we swore an oath to the Constitution not a person or a political agenda.
For me, that began a 31-year career in the FBI investigating numerous different violations of federal law. I was fortunate to have been involved in many high-profile cases. But nothing I accomplished in the FBI did I do by myself. It was always a team effort within the FBI and sometimes with other federal, state and/or local agencies. I loved the job and took great pride in what we accomplished.
Since President Trump took office, I have been disheartened by what has and is continuing to happen at the DOJ and FBI.
Both Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel testified at their Senate confirmation hearings that they would not politically weaponize their respective agencies nor seek retribution against prosecutors or agents that were involved in investigating and prosecuting President Trump and others.
Purges and Retribution
Unfortunately, AG Bondi and Director Patel did take retribution against prosecutors and agents. There have also been efforts to politically weaponize the DOJ/FBI against Trump’s “opponents.”
In the early days of the Trump presidency, Trump granted clemency to nearly 1,600 people who had been prosecuted for the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Their prosecution had been a product of the largest criminal investigation in DOJ/FBI history.
Following the blanket order granting clemency, the DOJ has fired or demoted more than two dozen assistant U.S. Attorneys who were involved in the prosecutions of those who attacked the Capitol. A common phrase in their dismissal letters was that they could no longer be trusted to “faithfully implement the president’s agenda.”
It is not clear how many FBI agents have been fired, demoted or forced to resign during the Patel regime. Three high ranking agents that were fired are now suing the president, Patel and others. Their court filing is enlightening as to the purge that is ongoing in the Bureau.
The three agents who are plaintiffs in the action: Brian J. Driscoll, Jr., Steven Jenson and Spencer L. Evans, in a 68-page complaint accuse Patel of firing them as part of a campaign of retribution “for their failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.” All three agents had a breadth of experience, were highly respected and sustained outstanding performance evaluations.
Dan Bongino and Kash Patel (FBI photo)
The lawsuit describes Patel and his Deputy Director Dan Bongino as right-wing influencers with far less experience and requisite qualifications than any of their predecessors (All the past deputy directors have been career agents that understood the complicated inter-workings of the Bureau.) Both Patel and Bongino had their own podcasts, and both seemed to be more interested in having a social media presence than in directing the operations of the Bureau.
The lawsuit also accuses Stephen Miller, Trump’s assistant chief of staff and Emil Bove, who ran the DOJ in the first months of the Trump administration, (Bove was recently appointed to be a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.) of ignoring the longtime independence of the FBI by ordering the dismissals of the plaintiff agents for a “lack of confidence that they would carry out the president’s agenda.”
Quoting the lawsuit: “Bove stated that he was receiving pressure from the White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to see ‘symmetrical action at the FBI as been happening at DOJ,’ Bove made it clear that he and Miller wanted to see personnel actions like reassignments and terminations at the FBI.”
Patel told Driscoll that, “The FBI tried to put the president in jail, and he hasn’t forgotten it.”
One of Bove’s repeated demands was that they should create a detailed list of agents who had worked on the vast investigations into the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Driscoll resisted producing such a list.
The lawsuit also relates a conversation from early August in which Driscoll told Patel that it would be illegal to fire someone based on working cases that were assigned to them. Patel responded that he understood the actions were “likely illegal” and risked opening him to lawsuits, but that he had to fire those whom his superiors wanted him to “because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the president.”
The suit concludes that, “Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the FBI over protecting the American people, his decision to do so degraded the country’s national security by firing three of the FBI’s most experienced operational leaders, each of them experts in preventing terrorism and reducing violent crime.”
Play-by-Play On Social Media
In the FBI, we were told not to discuss ongoing or pending investigations. This was also the policy of the attorneys in the DOJ. Generally, no public announcement regarding an investigation would be made until the investigation resulted in formal charges, usually by indictment. There are exceptions such as when the public’s help is being solicited to identify a perpetrator. Such announcements would be made to get the widest possible dissemination.
Dr. Anthony Fauci (Photo: NIH)
It was surprising for me when a few months ago, Patel unprompted said on a podcast that the FBI had seized two of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s phones. According to Patel the phones had been used during the Covid pandemic. Patel said, “We found it (devices), and at least we can tell the American people we’ve been looking because it is of public importance to figure out, did that guy lie?”
I’m not aware there was or is an investigation of Dr. Fauci. If there is evidence that Fauci was lying, and there is probable cause to believe he committed a crime then a case can be presented to a grand jury for a possible indictment. Until then the FBI should say nothing – no speculation. To do otherwise disparages his character by innuendo.
In August the FBI, executed a search warrant at the home of John Bolton, Trump’s national security advisor, in his first term. It’s not clear who alerted the media regarding the search, but it was covered in real-time on national television.
Accompanying the search there were social media posts: “No one is above the law,” wrote Kash Patel. Dan Bongino responded, “Public corruption will not be tolerated.” And AG Bondi added, “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.” These would not be appropriate under previous DOJ/FBI policy.
It should be noted that no running commentary was given during the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago except by Trump who at the time was former president.
Apparently, though inappropriate, Patel continues to provide commentary. Following the murder of Charlie Kirk, Patel posted on social media that the suspected shooter was in custody. It turned out the person in custody was not the shooter and after questioning was released. Patel had to retract that announcement which resulted in Patel’s competence to be questioned.
Later Patel flew to Utah and took part in the press conference after the alleged shooter was in custody. His opening remarks were:
“This is what happens when you let good cops be cops.”
“I want to express my deep gratitude to President Trump, the vice president, and the entire White House, who have been so incredibly supportive with resources and just personally to the FBI as a team. They had our backs the entire way. And I just want to express my gratitude for giving us the resources we need to operate in this space to bring this sort of justice at this sort of speed. In 33 hours, we have historic progress for Charlie (Kirk).”
Patel was right that “good cops” of several different agencies did make an arrest of the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk. (The shooter surrendered to the sheriff of the county where he resides.) It was not a particularly complicated investigation compared to major investigations like the Oklahoma City bombing or the January 6th insurrection that resulted in the investigation and successful prosecution of almost 1,600 individuals. Those were probably better examples of “letting good cops be cops,” and good prosecutors be prosecutors. (Merrick Garland was chief prosecutor in the Oklahoma City bombing.)
As for Patel’s expression of gratitude to the president, the vice president and the entire White House which presumably includes Stephen Miller. They may have had Patel’s back, but they certainly didn’t have the Bureau’s back after they had orchestrated the firing of some of the FBI’s best agents.
Selective Prosecution
Ex-FBI Director James Comey
Trump’s desire for retribution has not been sated. Now that the DOJ/FBI have been subjugated and are fully compliant to the White House, Trump has begun the process of prosecuting his opponents/enemies. On September 25th, former FBI Director James Comey was indicted by a grand jury in Virginia. Comey has been a foil of Trump’s since he was one of the first people fired in 2017 by Trump in his first term. Trump then said the firing was because Comey didn’t close the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
In a recent social media post that was directed to AG Bondi, Trump expressed his impatience with the DOJ not charging some of his perceived enemies including Comey, Sen. Adam Schiff and New York AG Letitia James.
This would seem to raise a possible defense of selective or malicious prosecution. The government singled the defendant out for prosecution based on an impermissible, discriminatory reason, rather than their actual conduct, and/or a prosecution begun in malice without probable cause to believe the charges can be sustained.
In my experience FBI agents were and I believe still are highly motivated. Many agents have postgraduate degrees or experience and skills from the military or other professions that can contribute to the Bureau’s mission.
Many if not most agents could find more lucrative jobs outside the Bureau, but they chose to serve their country. Being an FBI agent for me was rewarding because I was allowed to do my job, to follow the facts and the law without fear or favor. Bottom line, I put bad guys in jail. Justice was the goal, not the president’s agenda.
