DOJ Will Not Fire FBI Agents Who Acted Ethically in Jan. 6 Cases: Official

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in an undated file photograph. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

FBI agents involved in investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol will not be punished if they were just following orders and acted ethically, a top Department of Justice (DOJ) official said on Feb. 5.

Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove made the promise days after the DOJ requested information about thousands of FBI agents involved in probes of the Jan. 6 events.

“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 stated in a memorandum to employees.

Bove said the only workers who should be concerned “are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent.”

Bove on Jan. 31 asked the acting FBI director to provide the names of all FBI personnel who investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, according to senators.

An FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email after the request was sent that it was working to respond to the DOJ request.

“The FBI will work within the law and policy to respond to official requests for information from the Department of Justice. To be clear, the FBI does not view anyone’s identification on one of these lists as an indicator of misconduct,” the spokesperson stated.

A group of FBI employees on Feb. 4 lodged a lawsuit against the government, trying to stop the list of names from being compiled and shared with the DOJ. Some of the employees said they received a survey that asked them to report what work they did on the Jan. 6 cases or investigations into President Donald Trump. The survey’s questions included asking what each employee’s title was when they participated in the investigations and their last activity related to the probes.

The DOJ has not responded to requests for comment on the suit. A hearing on the matter is scheduled to take place on Feb. 6.

Bove stated in the Feb. 5 memo that he initially asked for the names of Washington-based FBI employees who took part in the Jan. 6 investigation but that he expanded the demand to all FBI personnel who worked on Jan. 6 cases after the FBI’s acting leadership refused to comply with the first request.

The FBI declined to comment.

When the FBI ultimately provided the list of employees, it identified personnel by their employee number rather than name.

Reuters contributed to this report.