Head of FBI New York Field Office Ordered to Retire Amid DOJ Probes

James Dennehy’s retirement came days after FBI chief Kash Patel was urged to probe allegations that the New York office withheld some Epstein-related documents.

James Dennehy, assistant director in charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, at 26 Federal Plaza in New York, on Dec. 11, 2024. Kent Edwards/Reuters

James Dennehy, the head of the FBI’s New York Field Office, reportedly emailed staff members on Monday to announce that he has been asked to turn in his retirement papers.

“I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did,” Dennehy stated in the email, which was obtained by multiple news outlets. “I was not given a reason for this decision.”

After writing a top 10 list of things he said he would miss about the FBI, he wrote: “I will never stop defending this joint. I'll just do it willingly and proudly from outside the wire.”

Dennehy served in the U.S. Marine Corps for seven years before joining the FBI as a special agent in 2002. In September last year, then-FBI director Christopher Wray named him assistant director in the New York field office.

Senate Judiciary Democrats have criticized Dennehy’s forced retirement and accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the bureau.

“After defending his workforce from Trump’s political revenge tour, James Dennehy was given a choice: resign or be fired. FBI weaponization,” they stated on the social media platform X.

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) directive to the FBI last month urging the bureau to provide the names of all personnel involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach investigation—which Dennehy reportedly resisted.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the FBI for comment and did not receive a response by publication time.

Epstein Files at FBI Field Office

Dennehy’s retirement email also came just days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi urged new FBI director Kash Patel to launch an investigation into allegations that the FBI field office in New York was withholding documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a Feb. 27 letter, Bondi said that prior to Patel’s appointment, she had requested the bureau to provide all files related to the Eipstein investigation.

She said she received 200 pages of documents, mainly consisting of flight logs, lists of contacts, and lists of victims’ names and phone numbers.

Bondi also said she received information that the New York field office had not provided all the documents in their possession and accused the FBI of withholding files related to the investigation.

“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi wrote.

“Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein,” she stated. “Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files.”

Epstein was convicted of procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008. He was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he was found dead in a New York City jail in 2019. Authorities ruled the death a suicide.

Bondi directed Patel to conduct an investigation into why the FBI didn’t fulfill the request.

Patel later issued a statement on the social media platform X, vowing that under his leadership, “there will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued.”

Patel has said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he would not act against FBI employees solely because of their work on probes into President Donald Trump. The new FBI director had also vowed to restore the bureau’s credibility and make it an agency that the American people can trust.

The Associated Press and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.