9 former FBI agents sue, saying they were wrongly fired over Mar-a-Lago case

Nine former FBI employees, including agents, intelligence analysts, and staff operations specialists, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington on Thursday. The plaintiffs allege they were unlawfully terminated in February 2026 for their roles in investigating President Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Florida estate.

The lawsuit claims the dismissals were not based on legitimate causes or internal disciplinary processes, but were instead acts of political retribution intended to satisfy the president's personal vendetta.

According to PBS NewsHour, the complaint adds to a series of legal challenges regarding mass terminations under FBI Director Kash Patel involving agents who participated in investigations of the Republican president or are perceived as being opposed to Trump administration interests. While Patel has testified to Congress that the fired employees had weaponized the FBI, the plaintiffs deny this, noting their collective service includes responding to the Boston Marathon bombing, hostage recoveries, and the investigation into the 2024 assassination attempt of Trump.

CBS News reports that the nine individuals were fired over a two-day period in February 2026. The lawsuit alleges that the employees were not provided with notice, a hearing, or an opportunity to appeal. The suit states that Patel relied on Article II of the Constitution to support the firings. The Hill notes that attorneys for the agents wrote that their fate was sealed simply by working on an investigation into Trump's wrongdoing.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Hill, Japan Today, ABC News (US), PBS NewsHour, CBS News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.