A group of anonymous FBI employees filed a lawsuit in Washington.
The Trump administration has agreed not to disseminate the names of FBI employees who worked on the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.
The agreement came as part of a lawsuit in which anonymous FBI employees and the FBI Agents Association sought a restraining order to prevent the release of such a list.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb deferred ruling on the request for a restraining order on Feb. 7 and instead signed an order with terms agreed to by the plaintiffs and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
It read in part: “The Government will not disseminate the list at issue in these consolidated cases (and any subsequent versions of that list, including any record pairing the unique identifiers on the list to names) to the public, directly or indirectly, before the court rules on plaintiffs’ anticipated motions for a preliminary injunction.”
FBI Agents Association President Natalie Bara responded by stating that the “agreement provides critical safeguards, preventing immediate public exposure or retaliation and ensuring that FBI Agents can remain focused on protecting the American people. We appreciate the Court’s recognition of the serious concerns at stake.”
Both parties are expected to submit filings this month and next month surrounding a potential preliminary injunction. The lawsuit was filed amid controversy over Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s request that the FBI provide names of bureau personnel involved with Jan. 6 cases.
On Feb. 3, Senate Judiciary Democrats sent a letter identifying the request and said “the Acting Deputy Attorney General clearly threatened the termination of identified employees.” It also referred to reporting that the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia had fired attorneys who worked on Jan. 6 cases.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that Bove had requested information about FBI personnel.
On Feb. 5, Bove said the FBI will not fire or punish employees who acted ethically in relation to the Jan. 6 cases.
“No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” he said.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
By Sam Dorman
