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MaddowBlog-Will the GOP's 'weaponization' panel care about the allegations in the new FBI lawsuit?
If Republicans are still looking for evidence of a weaponized FBI, led by operatives aligned with their political allies, I have some good news for them.
If Republicans are still looking for evidence of a weaponized FBI, led by political operatives aligning the bureau with their partisan allies, I have some very good news for them.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-11T18:23:45.780Z
If only Jim Jordan and his cohorts would pretend to care... www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/will-gops-weaponization-panel-care-allegations-new-fbi-lawsuit-rcna230654
Throughout Donald Trump’s second term, the FBI has been purging those deemed insufficiently loyal to the president and his agenda, but the campaign reached new depths last month. As part of an unsubtle revenge tour, three experienced bureau officials found themselves unemployed, including Brian Driscoll, a widely respected figure among rank-and-file agents who was fired after he helped prevent a mass firing of thousands of FBI officials who worked on Jan. 6 cases.....
A month later, Dilanian and MSNBC’s Carol Leonnig reported on a new federal lawsuit that alleges that FBI Director Kash Patel, a brazen Trump loyalist, “knowingly broke the law when he fired senior FBI executives at the behest of the White House and under pressure from Trump allies.” From the article:
.....The lawsuit added that the director acknowledged that firing FBI agents without cause would violate internal FBI rules and federal law — and he knew that he was opening the door to a likely lawsuit, though that didn’t stop him.
Patel “stated that his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on the cases against the President, regardless of whether the agents chose to work on those cases or not,” the lawsuit says......
But it’s against this backdrop that three former FBI leaders, effectively playing the role of whistleblowers, have filed a detailed lawsuit that appears to document the very problem that Republicans intended to prove: The bureau, the litigation alleges, really has become corrupted and weaponized by partisan operatives who’ve quietly aligned the bureau with their political allies.
There’s no shortage of questions, but near the top is this one: Will the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, express even the slightest interest in this case? Especially since this appears to be exactly the kind of information they claimed they were looking for?
It’s possible that the GOP-led panel will surprise me, act in an even-handed way and schedule lengthy hearings to examine the allegations in more detail, but I seriously doubt it.
A month later, Dilanian and MSNBC’s Carol Leonnig reported on a new federal lawsuit that alleges that FBI Director Kash Patel, a brazen Trump loyalist, “knowingly broke the law when he fired senior FBI executives at the behest of the White House and under pressure from Trump allies.” From the article:
The 68-page complaint was filed by former acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll and two other fired FBI leaders who claim they were the targets of 'politically motivated retribution' and are seeking 'to vindicate their constitutional and legal rights.' The suit cites a series of alleged conversations involving Patel and other senior Trump advisers that, if true, show an FBI leadership consumed by the whims of a Trump White House that targeted employees solely for political reasons.
.....The lawsuit added that the director acknowledged that firing FBI agents without cause would violate internal FBI rules and federal law — and he knew that he was opening the door to a likely lawsuit, though that didn’t stop him.
Patel “stated that his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on the cases against the President, regardless of whether the agents chose to work on those cases or not,” the lawsuit says......
But it’s against this backdrop that three former FBI leaders, effectively playing the role of whistleblowers, have filed a detailed lawsuit that appears to document the very problem that Republicans intended to prove: The bureau, the litigation alleges, really has become corrupted and weaponized by partisan operatives who’ve quietly aligned the bureau with their political allies.
There’s no shortage of questions, but near the top is this one: Will the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, express even the slightest interest in this case? Especially since this appears to be exactly the kind of information they claimed they were looking for?
It’s possible that the GOP-led panel will surprise me, act in an even-handed way and schedule lengthy hearings to examine the allegations in more detail, but I seriously doubt it.