Firings without explanation create culture of fear at Justice Dept., FBI
The Trump administration is firing and pushing out employees across the Justice Department and FBI, often with no explanation or warning, creating rampant speculation and fear within the workforce over who might be terminated next, according to multiple people with knowledge of the removals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.
Some people are simply fired, delivered a notice signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi that cites the broad powers afforded to the president in the U.S. Constitution. Others, particularly at the FBI, are told they can leave or be demoted or terminated.
The removals appear more individually targeted, and are happening in smaller numbers, than the high-profile ousters of senior Justice Department and FBI officials in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term, when he returned to the White House vowing to clean house at the federal law enforcement agency that had brought two criminal cases against him. They are unrelated to the mass reductions-in-force and reorganizations that Trump has launched at many other federal agencies, which the Supreme Court has said may move forward for now.
Multiple people familiar with the Justice Department said scores of experienced staffers are opting to voluntarily leave the government to avoid being fired at random or asked to do things that would potentially violate their legal ethics. Their departures are worsening staff shortages in major divisions and U.S. attorney offices and have created an opening for the Trump administration to further shape the Justice Department workforce, allowing officials to fill career staff vacancies with attorneys who align ideologically with the president.
“Many, many lawyers have resigned on their own power because they saw the writing on the wall,” said Max Stier, chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that pushes for a strong federal workforce. “They understood if they didn’t leave on their own volition they would be subject to firing - or if they stayed they felt they couldn’t uphold their oath in a way that was consistent with their integrity.”
The lack of explanation for the firings has fueled rumors, multiple people familiar with the situation said.
One Justice Department lawyer was suspected of being fired because he used “he/him” pronouns in his email signature. People interviewed say they believe another one attorney was ousted because of a message he put on social media. Others told to leave may not mesh with or may be disliked by Trump’s political appointees, the people said. And some are suspected of speaking to the media without authorization.
“Notice of Removal from Federal Service,” the subject line in the email from Bondi to one employee read. It continued: “Pursuant to Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States, you are removed from federal service effective immediately.”
The Justice Department declined to comment.
In recent weeks, attorneys in the Justice Department’s antitrust and criminal division have been ousted, as well as a few lawyers in U.S. attorney’s offices across the country, the people familiar with the matter said. Patricia Hartman, a veteran spokeswoman for the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office, was notified Monday that she was fired. At least one attorney for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was terminated in recent weeks, two people familiar with the personnel move said.
At least three attorneys who worked on prosecutions of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and had since moved to roles elsewhere in the Justice Department, were also removed. Hundreds of prosecutors worked on the Capitol riot probes, and many who are still working at the Justice Department fear they may be next to receive a termination notice.
“I wish I HAD an explanation,” Hartman, who had worked at the Justice Department for nearly 17 years, said in a statement about her unexpected termination.
At the FBI, some of those recently pushed out were veteran career officials who ran field offices in big cities, including Richmond and Las Vegas.
Former assistant special agent in charge Michael Feinberg said in an interview that he was targeted because of his ties to a former agent who was on an “enemies list” in a 2022 book by Kash Patel, a longtime FBI critic whom Trump nominated as director earlier this year.
In many instances, the supervisors of removed employees also received no warning or explanation about the terminations. The people interviewed described many of those fired as high-performing and well-liked colleagues.
“People are left baffled and then come up with theories about why they were fired,” said Stacey Young, who runs Justice Connection, an advocacy organization for former Justice Department employees. “It’s not always obvious to them, or to even their direct supervisors, what the reason is. It’s wild. I can’t think of a more flagrant violation of civil service protection laws.”
Mark Zaid, an attorney who is representing Hartman and other ousted federal workers, said he will simultaneously appeal Hartman’s termination to the Merit Systems Protection Board - a quasi-judicial agency in the executive branch - and in federal court.
Normally, fired federal employees must first exhaust their options at the board. But Trump fired the board chair early in his administration, and Zaid said the agency has become understaffed and backlogged by the large number of people appealing their terminations.
“It is so overwhelmed that it is effectively defunct and nonexistent,” Zaid said.
Stier cited the firing of veteran prosecutor Erez Reuveni as an example that has made workers question whether they should remain at the department. The Justice Department suspended - and later fired - Reuveni after he admitted in court that officials mistakenly deported a man to a prison in El Salvador and conceded that he did not know the legal basis for the expulsions.
Reuveni’s admission appeared to break with Bondi’s policy that Justice Department attorneys must “zealously advocate on behalf of the United States.” The ousted lawyer later filed a whistleblower complaint accusing top Justice officials of suggesting to attorneys that they should not listen to a court order or not be forthcoming with a judge.
The Justice Department has denied Reuveni’s account.
Feinberg, who had been working as a top national security and intelligence official in the FBI’s Norfolk office, detailed his unexpected departure in an interview and in an article on the website Lawfare. Feinberg said he was told that Dan Bongino, the number two person at the FBI, ordered his removal.
Feinberg said he was up for a promotion at the time, and a supervisor informed him that he would probably be demoted because he maintained a friendship with Peter Strzok, a senior counterintelligence agent who helped lead the bureau’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Strzok was fired in 2018 after officials discovered that he had sent anti-Trump texts.
The supervisor told Feinberg that he would have to take a polygraph about his friendship with Strzok, Feinberg said. Senior officials then told Feinberg that he may need to meet with Patel and Bongino to pledge his loyalty to the Trump administration. He decided to resign instead.
“I love my country and our Constitution with a fervor that mere language will not allow me to articulate, and it pains me that my profession will no longer entail being their servant,” Feinberg wrote in his resignation letter, which he posted online. “As you know, my wife and I are expecting our first child this summer, and this decision will entail no small degree of hardship for us. But as our organization began to decay, I made a vow that I would comport myself in a manner that would allow me to look my son in the eye as I raised him. It is now apparent that I can no longer both fulfill that vow and continue working for our current leadership.”
- - -
Spencer S. Hsu and Carol D. Leonnig contributed to this report.