Two Ex-FBI Agents File Lawsuit Against Director Patel Over Election Case Firings

Two former FBI special agents have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were wrongfully terminated by Director Kash Patel for their involvement in investigating Trump's 2020 election conspiracy. The agents say they were fired without due process after Trump and supporters demanded their removal.

Two former FBI special agents have filed a federal lawsuit against agency Director Kash Patel, alleging they were wrongfully terminated due to their involvement in investigating former President Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse the 2020 election results.

The agents filed their complaint anonymously in Washington D.C. federal court on Thursday, stating that Patel dismissed them last fall following pressure from Trump and his allies who wanted them removed because of their investigative work. According to the lawsuit, Patel labeled agents involved in the election investigation as “corrupt actors” who “weaponized law enforcement” and dismissed them without providing a hearing or conducting an investigation.

Both agents were assigned to work on the probe that ultimately resulted in Trump’s 2023 indictment on charges related to allegedly leading a conspiracy to prevent the certification of his electoral loss to former President Joe Biden. The Justice Department later dropped these charges in 2024 following Trump’s reelection victory.

The legal action seeks to have the court restore the agents to their former positions and declare that their terminations violated their constitutional rights to free speech and due process.

An FBI representative refused to provide comment on the matter.

According to the lawsuit, both agents were stationed at the Washington field office and had received praise for their job performance throughout their careers with the bureau.

They were each tasked with working on the investigation into an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election using fraudulent electors, an operation the FBI designated “Arctic Frost.” The agents stated in their filing that this assignment was outside their regular duties and neither played a significant role in the investigation.

During Trump’s 2024 campaign and following his electoral victory, he and his supporters promised to identify government workers they believed were politically hostile to Trump, with particular attention directed toward the FBI.

The lawsuit indicates that Trump referred to agents involved in Arctic Frost as “total Scum” and “Radical Left Lunatics” in his social media posts.

Both agents received termination notices between late October and early November 2025, according to the court filing. Each received a dismissal letter, and neither was informed that their firing was due to inadequate performance or wrongdoing.

The agents have been unable to find new employment, partly because their termination letters include language preventing them from working elsewhere in the Executive Branch. They have also faced repeated rejections from other organizations, in part due to concerns that hiring them could damage relationships with the Trump administration, the lawsuit states.