Democrats expressed horror after President Donald Trump’s administration fired FBI officials in charge of multiple major field offices, as well as dozens of rank and file agents.
The Friday night purge targeted agents who had worked on FBI investigations into Trump, a number of whom were escorted out of the agency’s Washington, D.C. office, a source told The Hill.
The same source said that field office chiefs in D.C., Miami, Seattle, New Orleans, and Las Vegas were also removed.
While the full scope of the purge is not yet known, it has sparked outrage from congressional Democrats.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the firings “deeply alarming.”
He added, “The Trump administration appears to be purging dozens of the most experienced agents who are our nation’s first line of defense,” according to The Hill.
Other lawmakers were more scathing in their assessments. House Democrat Jamie Raskin called the move “another repulsive affront to the rule of law,” Newsweek reported.
“If allowed to proceed, Trump’s purge of our federal law enforcement workforce will expose America to authoritarianism and dictatorship,” he added.
In a post on X, Sen. Adam Schiff described it as “another Friday Night Massacre, as the president removes those loyal to the Constitution. And installs those loyal to him.”
CNN reported that dozens of prosecutors at the Justice Department who worked on the agency’s cases against Trump were also fired on Friday.
A week ago, the new administration, in a similar move, had dismissed government watchdogs at more than a dozen federal agencies, appearing to violate the law in the process.
The FBI purge came a day that Trump’s highly controversial nominee to lead the agency, Kash Patel, told senators he would respect the processes for removing agents.
“I don’t know what’s going on right now over there, but I’m committed to you, Senator, and your colleagues, that I will honor the internal review process of the FBI,” Patel said.
The FBI Agents Association pointed to the contradiction between Patel’s statement and the sudden firings.
“If true, these outrageous actions by acting officials are fundamentally at odds with the law enforcement objectives outlined by President Trump and his support for FBI Agents,” the group added in a statement, according to The Hill.
