Top FBI leaders fired, including Trump’s successor
Top FBI leaders fired, including Trump’s successor
2025-02-01 03:03
Shafaq News/ A large group of senior leaders and FBI agents have left the agency in one of the biggest changes in years at the US law enforcement agency.
The US Department of Justice has fired a number of senior FBI leaders and launched a massive investigation into employees who helped investigate the 2021 Capitol riot, as part of efforts to reshape law enforcement agencies .
According to Bloomberg, senior FBI officials based in Washington who oversee the agency’s branches and senior agents who lead field offices across the country have left their jobs.
Some leaders were pressured to leave the agency, with some choosing to retire, while others resisted and faced dismissal, according to the people .
The most prominent departures
Among those leaving the agency are two of its most senior leaders: Jeffrey Veltri, the special agent in charge in Miami, and David Sonberg, the assistant director in charge of the Washington field office .
One source revealed that FBI leaders told employees on Friday that some agents would be reassigned to assist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to arrest and deport people in the country illegally.
The Trump administration has already begun a process of job cuts at the Justice Department that appeared to focus on FBI officials and others who worked on cases related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters .
Formation of the justice system
The job cuts represent the latest move by the Trump administration to reshape the U.S. criminal justice system after he returned to the White House , according to two memos seen by Reuters and three sources.
A group representing FBI officers, the top law enforcement agency in the United States, issued a rare public statement warning that hundreds of them could be fired .
Meanwhile, the new US administration has already terminated the services of more than a dozen prosecutors who sought to bring criminal charges against Trump in two cases that were pushed by special counsel Jack Smith but were not accepted .
The administration also halted all civil rights and environmental lawsuits and ordered criminal investigations into state and local officials who interfere with Trump’s immigration initiatives .
Capitol attack
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emile Bove on Thursday ordered federal prosecutors in each state to send a list of names of prosecutors and FBI officials involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the largest Justice Department probe in modern U.S. history, two sources familiar with the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity .
The memo included the names of eight FBI officials who must resign or be fired, and the memo stated that their involvement in the two cases related to the events of January 6 represents part of what Trump called the “weaponization” of the government .
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