Politics may have spurred August purge of 5 veteran FBI agents

Source: CBS News

August 19, 2025 / 11:08 PM EDT


When the FBI fired five veteran agents earlier this month, Director Kash Patel offered no explanation.

Shock at the firings has continued to reverberate through the storied agency. And now, details are emerging about the possible motivation, several sources close to the agents tell CBS News.

"There is a despicable purge underway of senior FBI officials, all of whom have risen in their careers as nonpartisan, and who have been targeted for vindictive, political purposes," said Mark Zaid, a whistleblower attorney who represents a number of federal workers dismissed under President Trump.

Without any public comment from FBI or Justice Department officials, the agents, including, Brian Driscoll, who served for a short time as acting director at the start of the Trump administration, and Steven Jensen, head of the powerful Washington field office, were summarily fired and given little explanation for their removal. None had reached retirement age, meaning the abrupt dismissals will deprive them of their full pensions. One agent's expulsion came a month after his wife died of cancer.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/politics-may-have-spurred-august-purge-of-5-veteran-fbi-agents/