The Justice Department issued new guidance on FBI agents who were involved in investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, who was president Donald Trump's defense attorney in his election interference case, issued a memo to the bureau's workforce saying that “who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” would not at risk for being fired, reported Fox News.
However, Bove offered no reassurances for agents found to engaged in "corrupt or partisan intent" and accused acting FBI acting director Brian Driscoll of insubordination for refusing to reply to requests from the Trump administration to identify "the core team in Washington, D.C. responsible for the investigation relating to events on January 6, 2021."
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"That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order," Bove wrote in his memo.
"Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties," Bove continued. "The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI."
Bove's memo was issued shortly before attorney general Pam Bondi was sworn in as head of the Justice Department.
