The Trump administration has agreed to keep private a list of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases unless it first provides a two-day head start for the employees to seek a court’s intervention.
The agreement between the FBI Agents Association and President Donald Trump’s Justice Department deescalates, for now, a showdown between the bureau and DOJ after acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sought the list. FBI agents sued to prevent its dissemination over fears that Trump appointees intended to publicize the list, potentially putting thousands of FBI officials at risk of reprisal.
The “consent order,” adopted by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb Friday afternoon, lacks a safeguard FBI employees’ lawyers were asking for during a court hearing Thursday: A restriction on passing the information from the Justice Department to other agencies or the White House.
But the judge’s directive bars the entire federal government — not just the Justice Department — from making any part of the list public without giving two business days’ notice. That would allow attorneys for the FBI personnel to ask the judge for further relief.
The FBI Agents Association hailed the agreement.
“The Court’s order ensures that FBI Agents who are keeping our country and our communities safe can continue to do their jobs without fear of public exposure or retaliation,” said Christ Mattei, an attorney for the association. “We will continue to do everything in our power to protect the FBI community from retaliation and appreciate that the Court treated this matter with the urgency it deserves.”
Justice Department attorneys submitted the agreement to the court less than an hour before Cobb was to reconvene a hearing about whether to impose a restraining order on the distribution of the list.
FBI employees have been in an uproar over the issue since last week, when Bove issued a memo titled “Terminations” that demanded a comprehensive list of all FBI personnel who had worked in any capacity on investigations into the riot at the Capital by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. The attack led to criminal charges against more than 1,500 people in what officials have termed the most sprawling investigation the FBI has ever conducted.
Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll initially transmitted a list of 5,000 employees — identified only by ID numbers — to DOJ leadership. Bove subsequently criticized him for “insubordination.” A full roster with names was sent to DOJ on Thursday, Driscoll said.
In a message to FBI employees Wednesday, Bove offered reassurance there would be no disciplinary action against staff or agents who acted “in an ethical manner.” But Bove’s blunt accusations of insubordination against FBI leaders for refusing to name people at the bureau who directed the Jan. 6 work did little to stem the unease among the roughly 38,000 FBI employees, according to current and former staffers.