(NewsNation) — A new clarification memo sent from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove says that the only FBI staffers who should be concerned about firings are those who had “corrupt or partisan intent” regarding the Jan. 6 investigations and not those who “simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner.”
Bove, who was formerly one of President Donald Trump’s criminal lawyers, sent the follow-up memo one day after FBI agents who participated in investigations related to President Donald Trump sued over Justice Department efforts to develop a list of employees involved in those inquiries that they fear could be a precursor to mass firings.
“Let me be clear: 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,” Bove wrote in the letter obtained by NewsNation. The letter added that the only individuals who should be concerned “are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.”
Bove had directed the Justice Department to compile the names, titles and offices of all FBI employees who worked on investigations related to Jan. 6, when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol in a massive attempt to block the certification of election results.
Agents sue FBI, DOJ amid fears of retaliation over work on Jan. 6 cases
Bove wrote in his clarification letter that he was met with “insubordination” by acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll when he originally asked for the “core team” assigned to the Jan. 6 investigation, which led him to broaden his order to identify “all agents” assigned to investigations.
“In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove said.
Two lawsuits, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington on behalf of anonymous agents, demanded an immediate halt to the collection and potential dissemination of names of investigators who participated in probes of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The suits mark an escalation in a high-stakes dispute that burst into public view Friday with revelations the Justice Department had demanded from the FBI the names, offices and titles of all employees involved in Jan. 6 investigations so that officials could evaluate whether any personnel action was merited.
Thousands of FBI employees were also asked over the weekend to fill out an in-depth questionnaire about their participation in those probes, a step they worry could lead to termination.
Sen. Mark R. Warner, a Virginia Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released Bove’s original order directing the termination of several high-level FBI staffers, including Robert Wells, the assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division.
“As we deal with a myriad of threats – to our homeland, to our cyber networks, to our economic competitiveness – this blatant abuse of power is making us all less safe,” Warner said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
