Several top FBI officials were ousted from their jobs this week, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News, including the former acting director of the bureau who previously resisted efforts to compile a list of agents who worked on the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Sources tell ABC News that among those informed of their terminations are former acting FBI director Brian Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the Washington, D.C. Field office Steven Jensen, and agents Walter Giardina and Christopher Meyer.
It does not appear that any were informed of the rationale behind their terminations, the sources said.
The firings have alarmed many rank-and-file agents due to concerns over whether the moves were politically motivated, said the sources. Giardina and Meyer, for instance, previously worked on investigations involving President Donald Trump.
Driscoll, who had served for nearly 20 years in the bureau, including a variety of leadership positions, was elevated briefly to the role of acting director in the opening days of Trump’s presidency.
He received praise from some agents and law enforcement groups over his brief standoff with Emil Bove, Trump’s former defense attorney who pushed Trump’s agenda at the Justice Department prior to the confirmation of Attorney General Pam Bondi. Driscoll had resisted an order from Bove to compile a list of all agents who aided the Justice Department’s investigation into Jan. 6, which Bove later described in a memo as an act of “insubordination.”
After the Senate confirmed Kash Patel as FBI director, Driscoll was assigned to lead the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group.
Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building in Washington D.C., July 3, 2023.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In his parting email sent Thursday to staffers, which was obtained by ABC News, Driscoll said he was informed of his termination Wednesday night and was given no reason for the move.
“I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I currently have no answers,” Driscoll wrote, according to the email. “No cause has been articulated at this time. Please know that it has been the honor of my life to serve alongside each of you.”
Sources said that Jensen’s firing similarly came as a surprise to senior leadership at the U.S. attorney’s D.C. field office, where Jensen was set to appear Thursday at a press conference on the unsealing of a hate crimes indictment charging the suspect in the Capitol Jewish Museum shooting.
Jensen was instead replaced at the press event by the chief of the Washington field office’s criminal division.
Asked by ABC News about the reason behind Jensen’s dismissal, D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro declined to answer.
“I’m not going to talk about politics today. I’m talking about crime, talking about hate crimes,” Pirro said.
Officials with the FBI and Justice Department also declined to comment on the firings.
