Patel accused of purging the FBI while firing former acting director

Aug. 7 (UPI) — Former FBI acting director Brian Driscoll on Wednesday received notice of his imminent firing amid a reported purge at the federal law enforcement agency.

Driscoll became the FBI’s acting director on Jan. 20 but quickly was replaced by current FBI DirectorKash Patel upon his Senate confirmation on Feb. 20.

“Last night I was informed that tomorrow will be my last day in the FBI,” Driscoll said in a statement that was shared on social media on Thursday, The Hill reported.

“I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I have no answers,” Driscoll said. “No cause has been articulated at this time.”

Driscoll’s reported firing comes after he refused to reveal the names of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

His firing is part of a “purge” at the federal law enforcement bureau, according to The New York Times.

The newspaper cited anonymous sources who are “familiar with the matter.”

The FBI’s acting director of its Washington, D.C., field office, Steve Jensen, also is being fired, along with other FBI personnel who are considered to have “opposed Trump in the past,” CNN reported.

The Trump administration has removed several FBI officials by telling them to quit, retire or be fired.

Officials for the non-profit FBI Agents Association “are deeply concerned by reports that FBI special agents — case agents and senior leaders alike — are going to be summarily fired without due process for doing their jobs investigating potential federal crime,” they said on Thursday.

“If these people are fired without due process, it makes the American people less safe,” the association said. “Agents need to be focused on their work and not on potentially being fired based on their assignments.”

FBI agents are assigned cases, and those who have been fired “followed the law” while carrying out their assigned duties, the association said.

The reported purge contradicts the Department of Justice’s prior notice to FBI agents regarding the Capitol riot investigations.

Agents who “simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” won’t lose their jobs, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a Feb. 5 memo.