Three special agents of the FBI who worked on criminal cases against President Donald Trump were fired by the administration and sued for their “unlawful” firing, citing as evidence that the No.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former lawyer for Trump, last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) said that FBI Director Kash Patel “cleaned house” and that “there is not one man or woman with a gun, a federal agent, that is in that agency connected to the prosecution of President Trump.”
Former agents Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman have filed a lawsuit seeking class action status. It names Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi and says the agents “worked in good faith” for the country but were targeted for a “recovery” campaign that “had time to grab headlines and gain political supporters.”
The lawsuit, at least one of three filed by FBI agents fired under Trump, says the administration fired more than 50 FBI employees “without giving them any due process, and while defaming their reputation and their work in public statements at the time of the firing.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the case, and the FBI said it could not comment on the proceedings.
The lawsuit alleges Patel wrote a 2022 children’s book titled: “The Plot Against the King,” which the lawsuit says portrays Patel as “one of the President’s most devoted loyalists.” The lawsuit also called Bondi “one of the President’s most dedicated loyalists,” and notes his role in filing “baseless charges to prevent a peaceful transition of power” after Trump lost the 2020 election.
All three FBI special agents previously worked in the public corruption unit of the FBI Washington Field Office that was disbanded last May. The unit had assisted former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the Trump investigation, which led to two separate criminal charges against him: one for his handling of classified documents, and another for defrauding his 2020 election loss. Both cases were eventually dismissed before Trump took office in early 2025, following his 2024 election victory.
The three plaintiffs said that their names “only enter the public” when “a high-ranking government official falsely accuses them on television or on social media that they are corrupt, biased, or do not comply with the principles of justice in doing the official work assigned to them.”
Ball’s firing on October 7, the lawsuit alleges, “was timed to coincide with Defendant Bondi’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.” Garman, who worked as an assistant US attorney for five years before joining the FBI, was removed from federal service on October 31. Toleman, accused of “investigating and disrupting terrorist plots” during his nearly 14 years with the FBI, was fired, not fired, and fired again in early November.
Although he was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit, agents also said Dan Bongino, former deputy director of the FBI, “constantly promoted classified information and conspiracy theories about President Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged” during his time as a broadcaster.
Two other former FBI special agents who said they played only a minor role in the Trump investigation filed a lawsuit earlier this month, filing anonymously to avoid being exposed to “risk of intoxication, SWATting, harassment and physical harm.”
The lawsuit filed Tuesday, the attorneys argued, involves similar issues and should be considered related to the anonymously filed lawsuit, which was assigned to US District Judge Jia M. Cobb.
Three additional FBI agents — including former acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll — have sued over their firings in September.
Earlier this month, the government argued that Trump “has the legal authority to impeach and remove his administration,” and that Driscoll and his co-defendants “were in positions of such seniority that their official duties substantially affect the government’s interest in ensuring that the plaintiffs can make effective government decisions.”
In February, Bondi wrote a memo in which he confirmed and confirmed Patel’s decision to remove Driscoll and his co-defendants from their jobs.
