The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has dismissed at least 10 agents linked to the 2022 investigation into President Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence, the US media reported on Wednesday.
The reported dismissals have drawn criticism from the FBI Agents Association, which represents bureau personnel.
The FBI declined to comment on the reports.
The investigation reportedly centred on allegations that Trump retained classified material — including records from the Pentagon and the CIA — at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida after leaving office following his first term in the White House. Prosecutors had alleged that some of the documents included sensitive nuclear and defence information and were not securely stored.
In August 2022, the FBI allegedly conducted a court-authorised search of Mar-a-Lago as part of the probe. The case was later dismissed.
According to multiple US media outlets, FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the termination of at least 10 agents over their involvement in the investigation.
In July 2024, US District Judge Aileen Cannon reportedly dismissed the case, ruling that former Special Counsel Jack Smith had been unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department appealed the decision but dropped the case after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election, citing a long-standing policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the documents case, one of several investigations he faced after his first term. Another probe led by Smith into alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results was also withdrawn in line with Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
As per reports, in a statement, the FBI Agents Association confirmed that dismissals had taken place, without specifying the number, and criticised the move as violating “the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect” the United States.
The reports said the firings occurred on the same day Patel claimed that authorities had obtained his phone records during the Trump-related investigations under the previous administration of President Joe Biden, when Patel was not heading the agency.
Trump has repeatedly criticised the FBI over its investigations, including its inquiries into hundreds of his supporters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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