Nine FBI employees fired for their roles in the classified documents investigation of President Donald Trump sued to overturn their terminations on Thursday.
The complaint alleges that their firings in February were unlawful and acts of “political retribution.” Their dismissals followed earlier terminations of agents who were working on the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
FBI Director Kash Patel said during a Congressional hearing that he fired the employees after they “weaponized” the FBI. The lawsuit disputes that, saying that the nine employees had never been accused of any political motivations in their work, including the investigation into the attempted assassination of Trump in 2024.
“In return for their service, they were fired because they did their jobs, as they always did to follow the facts and law without bias or favor,” their attorneys told The Associated Press in a statement.
