FBI agents who investigated Trump file lawsuit alleging retaliatory firing 

Three former agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that they were wrongfully fired in retaliation for their work in the United States.

The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, marks the latest legal challenge against efforts under President Donald Trump to purge staff at the federal law enforcement agency.

The three agents involved — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — argue that their employment was terminated as a result of their work on an investigation into Trump’s efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election.

Career agents at the FBI are nonpartisan employees. The three plaintiffs argued that agents should not be required to show “fealty to any political party, movement, or figure”.

“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” the agents said in a statement.

“We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”

Each of the former agents had between eight and 14 years of experience at the FBI.

In their 48-page complaint, they explain they were abruptly fired in October and November in what they describe as a “retribution campaign” under the Trump administration.

The lawsuit explains they received termination letters, signed by FBI Director Kash Patel, that “baselessly accused them of ‘weaponizing’ their positions within the government”.

The three agents had been assigned to offer FBI support to an investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith, an independent prosecutor assigned to probe Trump’s actions.

As a result of that investigation, Trump was indicted in 2023 on charges he had taken part in an illegal effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

Smith eventually dropped that case, along with another focused on Trump’s retention of classified documents, after the Republican leader was re-elected for a second term in 2024. The Department of Justice has an internal policy prohibiting the prosecution of sitting presidents.

Smith also resigned his position before Trump took office in January 2025.

But since returning to the White House, Trump has faced criticism for allegedly seeking retribution against employees involved in policies he disagrees with.

“President Trump made clear that upon his return to office, he expected top officials in federal law enforcement to carry out his retribution,” Tuesday’s lawsuit asserts.

Nonpartisan members of both the FBI and Department of Justice who were involved in Smith’s work have seen their jobs cut in the aftermath of Trump’s inauguration.

But Tuesday’s class-action lawsuit (PDF) could pave the way for more agents fired for perceived disloyalty to return to their jobs.

By accusing the agents of “weaponising” the FBI, the lawsuit argues that the Trump administration not only damaged their individual reputations but those of all law enforcement officers in similar situations.

“This false and defamatory public smear impugned the professional reputation of Plaintiffs and the proposed class members, suggesting they were something other than faithful and apolitical law enforcement officials,” the lawsuit argues.

A group of 12 former FBI workers also sued the agency in December, alleging that they were wrongfully terminated for taking a knee during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.