The F.B.I. is deepening its purge of employees, forcing out senior agents like a former acting head of the bureau and another whose recent ascent had angered Trump supporters, according to several people familiar with the matter.
Brian Driscoll, who briefly served as the acting director in the early days of the Trump administration, was among those being told to leave by Friday, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe personnel decisions that have not yet been made public.
Also being ousted this week is the head of the F.B.I.’s Washington field office, Steven J. Jensen, these people said. Mr. Jensen had been a target of conservatives because in overseeing the bureau’s domestic terrorism operations section at the time, he played a key role in responding to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The reason for Mr. Driscoll’s ouster was not entirely clear, though he had become an unlikely champion of the bureau after accidentally being catapulted to the director’s chair on Inauguration Day. He resisted demands to turn over the names of F.B.I. agents who had worked on the investigation into the Capitol attack, fighting off what was seen as a possible purge.
The removals are likely to deal another blow to the morale of the agency, which has faced intense scrutiny after conducting investigations that President Trump’s supporters have denounced. Mr. Jensen’s ouster, in particular, is an embarrassing chapter in Kash Patel’s tenure as director given that he had promoted Mr. Jensen and defended the decision on national television.
Other agents being forced out are Walter Giardina and Christopher Meyer, both of whom had worked on cases involving Mr. Trump, people familiar with the matter said.
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