The White House has exerted extraordinary influence over decisions at the F.B.I., issuing political loyalty tests and directly ordering the firings of agents targeted by President Trump and his allies, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by three former bureau officials who accused the administration of illegally dismissing them.
The sprawling suit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, provides a disturbing account of what it describes as efforts by Mr. Trump’s top aides to strip the bureau of its century-long history of independence. It paints an unflattering portrait of the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, as a middleman executing the orders of top Justice Department and White House officials, including Stephen Miller, Mr. Trump’s chief domestic policy adviser.
The former officials who brought the suit — Brian J. Driscoll Jr., Steven J. Jensen and Spencer L. Evans — once occupied senior positions in the F.B.I. They accused Mr. Patel of dismissing them as part of “a campaign of retribution” for their “failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.”
“Patel not only acted unlawfully but deliberately chose to prioritize politicizing the F.B.I. over protecting the American people,” the lawsuit said.
Over 68 pages, the suit describes previously unreported accounts about key Trump appointees, including Mr. Patel, Mr. Miller and Emil Bove III, a former senior Justice Department official recently named to serve as a federal appeals court judge. The New York Times was not able to independently verify some of the accounts, though they add new detail to the firings and ousters across the agency.
The lawsuit describes Mr. Patel and his top deputy, Dan Bongino — right-wing influencers with far less experience than any of their predecessors — as almost cartoonish figures more interested in social media or handing out oversized “challenge coins” than in running the day-to-day operations of the nation’s flagship law enforcement agency.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post White House Exerts Enormous Influence Over F.B.I., Lawsuit Says appeared first on New York Times.
