The FBI launched a wide-ranging round of staff cuts Friday as Donald Trump’s administration moved to swiftly shake up the US’s leading law enforcement agency, three sources familiar with the matter told the Reuters new agency.
At least five top FBI officials in major US cities – Miami, Philadelphia, Washington, New Orleans and Las Vegas – were ordered to resign or be fired, one of the sources told Reuters.
The move came at the same time that CNN reported that a purge of career law enforcement officials would hit the agency, with dozens of FBI agents facing the axe who worked on investigations into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and any Trump-related cases, such as the inquiry into missing sensitive documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
CNN reported that agents and other employees would be asked to resign or face termination in a process starting on Friday.
Trump has vowed to dramatically revamp the US justice department, which includes the FBI, after it brought two criminal cases against him during his four years out of power. He has repeatedly claimed – without evidence – that Joe Biden “weaponised” law enforcement to pursue a political vendetta against him.
In his first day back in the White House, Trump granted clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged with storming the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, in an attempt to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results which Biden won.
