A group of former FBI agents who took part in the investigation into Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, March 31, against FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, challenging their dismissal.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, alleges that Patel and Bondi violated the plaintiffs’ rights under the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by deciding to fire them.
Former agents Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman, and Michelle Ball, the 48-page complaint says, maintained “exemplary” performance records over many years of service at the FBI. The document underscores this from its very first sentence, stating that the plaintiffs “have faithfully served our country—doing the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons”—a reference to the formula used by former FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump replaced with Patel after returning to the White House.
Despite that record, all three, the lawsuit alleges, were dismissed last fall without any charges being brought against them. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the defendants’ actions unlawful and order the FBI to “immediately reinstate” them, while also barring the bureau from “taking any further adverse personnel action” against them.
The Justice Department and the FBI said they do not comment on pending litigation.
This is not the first such lawsuit: earlier this month, two former FBI employees, whose names have not been disclosed, also went to court against Patel and Bondi, saying they were fired “solely” because of their work on the investigation that was handed over in 2022 to special counsel Jack Smith.
Since Trump’s return to power, the FBI has dismissed about 45 agents. Last week, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the Justice Department and the FBI had “purged” officials involved in cases against Trump.
“There is not a single man or woman left in that organization with a gun—a federal agent—who had anything to do with the prosecution of President Trump,” Blanche said in an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas.