Nine former FBI employees sue over February dismissals

Nine former FBI employees who worked on the investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking reinstatement, back pay and a declaration that their February dismissals were unlawful. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, says the nine agents, intelligence analysts and operations specialists were assigned to the investigation, known inside the FBI as Plasmic Echo, through their counterintelligence and related roles. The plaintiffs allege they were fired because of that work and for political reasons, without notice, a hearing or an opportunity to appeal. The lawsuit says termination letters signed by FBI Director Kash Patel accused the employees of poor judgment and a lack of impartiality that contributed to political weaponization of the government. The plaintiffs reject those accusations and say their work was apolitical. Their claims have not been independently established in the material provided. The complaint also describes an episode involving Special Agent Miles Starr, who the plaintiffs say sought urgent access to the Plasmic Echo files on February 23. According to the...