Trump illegally fired two FBI agents who investigated his 2020 election interference scheme

Trump illegally fired two FBI agents who had played a role in investigating his 2020 election interference scheme, and now those agents are fighting back in federal court. Their lawsuit, filed Thursday in Washington, D.C., is one of the clearest examples yet of what critics call a systematic purge of career law enforcement professionals for purely political reasons.The two former agents, identified only as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, both worked on an internal FBI investigation code-named “Arctic Frost.” That was the bureau’s internal label for the probe into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Their involvement in that case appears to be the only reason they lost their jobs.The lawsuit names FBI Director Kash Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI, and the Department of Justice as defendants. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. It is part of a growing wave of legal actions from former federal agents who say they were pushed out without cause, without notice, and without any fair hearing.The two agents were not lead investigators on Arctic Frost. John Doe 1 was brought in for his financial investigative expertise, but his actual role ended up being mostly administrative. He prepared very few subpoenas and performed what the lawsuit describes as a “minor role” in the overall probe.John Doe 2 served in an even more limited capacity, handling supporting tasks like recording interviews, arranging transcription services, and keeping track of interview logs. He was never a lead agent on the case. Neither man was a key architect of the investigation into Trump’s interference scheme.Despite their limited roles, both were fired in the fall of 2025, shortly after unredacted Arctic Frost documents were released to Congress. Republican lawmakers used that moment to publicly attack the agents involved, calling them “partisan operatives” and naming some of them. Patel followed up by publicly labeling the fired Arctic Frost agents “corrupt actors” who had engaged in “weaponized law enforcement.”The timing of John Doe 1’s firing is especially striking. He was called into a meeting on Halloween 2025, right as he was about to go trick-or-treating with his young children, who were already in costume. When he asked whether anything could be done to stop the firing, the answer he received from the Washington Field Office was blunt: “It is what it is.”John Doe 2 was terminated a few days later, on November 4. At the time, he was deep into a high-profile fraud investigation and had just briefed both Patel and former Deputy Director Dan Bongino on the case. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro personally tried to intervene to save him, calling on his behalf because of how important his work was to her office. Her effort bought him one extra day. Then he was fired anyway.The lawsuit says neither agent was given any internal investigation, any written notice of the charges against them, or any opportunity to appeal. This directly violates established FBI policy, which states that agents can only be removed for cause, whether that be misconduct, poor performance, or a failure to carry out their duties.“The government fired them not because they did anything wrong, but solely because of their assignment to an investigation involving then-former President Trump,” said Elizabeth Tulis, a partner at Perry Law and the attorney representing both men.“The First Amendment forbids this kind of political retaliation,” Tulis added.Both men have been unable to find new work since being fired. John Doe 1, described in the suit as the sole breadwinner for his household with two young children, had served the FBI for over 21 years and was just three years away from a full pension. At least one prospective employer declined to hire him because of the “optics” of how he was let go. John Doe 2 had nearly eight years of service and consistently received top performance ratings.The former agents are asking the court to declare their First and Fifth Amendment rights were violated, to reinstate them to their positions, and to block the FBI from taking any further action against them without proper due process. The Justice Department declined to comment.