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This page is part of a resource collection on Authoritarianism & Bigotry in the Second Trump Administration.
News: 2025
January 30. Adam Goldman & Devlin Barrett: Trump Administration Shocks Senior F.B.I. Ranks by Moving to Replace Them: Top officials have been told to retire or be fired in the coming days, fueling fear within an agency that has been a target of President Trump and Kash Patel, his nominee to be F.B.I. director.
January 31. Rebecca Beitsch: FBI purges top officials, agents who worked on Trump’s criminal cases.
January 31. Shane Harris: FBI Agents Are Stunned by the Scale of the Expected Trump Purge: Seasoned members of the nation’s top law-enforcement agency are bracing for a mass expulsion as the president roots out anyone he sees as disloyal to him.
February 9. Ellen Nakashima & Warren P. Strobel: U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test: Candidates for top intelligence and law enforcement jobs were asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to questions such as: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?”
February 24. Ben Makuch: Neo-Nazi group plots rebuild as Trump’s FBI chief takes helm: Terrorist group the Base appears defiant as new administration aims to deprioritize threat from far right.
February 24. David Gilbert: How Dan Bongino Went From Infowars to FBI Deputy Director.
March 3. NPR: New deputy FBI director Dan Bongino previously called for imprisoning Democrats.
March 3. NBC: Top FBI official forced out after questioning Trump pursuit of agents who investigated Jan. 6.
March 11. Ben Makuch: Fears mount over Kash Patel’s use of FBI to persecute leftwing protest groups: Concern over crackdown on anti-fascists and Black Lives Matter movement as Trump loyalist takes control of agency.
March 22. Caroline Haskins: The FBI Is Investigating Attacks on Tesla as ‘Domestic Terrorism.’ The domestic terrorism designation could give law enforcement sweeping authority to surveil people protesting against Elon Musk’s role in the US federal government.
April 7. The New York Times: List: Who Trump Has Targeted for Retribution.
July 5. The New York Times: Trump’s Politicized F.B.I. Has Made Americans Less Safe.
July 9. Glenn Thrush: Administration Takes Steps to Target 2 Officials Who Investigated Trump. It is unclear whether moves targeting the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey and the former C.I.A. director John O. Brennan will lead to charges.
July 10. Perry Stein: Firings without explanation create culture of fear at Justice Dept., FBI.
August 7. Sarah K. Burris: Trump fires FBI leader who refused to fire J6 investigators.
August 5. Ken Dilanian: High-ranking FBI job losses disproportionately hurt women, people of color: Leaders are undertaking an unprecedented campaign to force senior officials off the job.
August 9. Asha Rangappa: The FBI As We Knew It is Gone: It took a hundred years to create the Bureau as we knew it. And it took one dinner at the White House to destroy it.
August 18. Carrie Johnson: Firings and forced resignations at FBI worry veterans of the agency.
August 20. Daniel Klaidman: Politics may have spurred August purge of 5 veteran FBI agents.
August 21. Devlin Barrett & Adam Goldman: F.B.I. Plans to Lower Recruiting Standards, Alarming Agents.
August 22. Shane Harris: The Bolton Raid Feels Like a Warning: In just one week, the administration has targeted dozens of its perceived critics, leaving national-security officials angry and afraid.
September 25. Robert Tait & Aram Roston: Trump signs memo targeting ‘domestic terrorism’ amid fears of crackdown on the left.
September 25. ABC News: Former FBI Director James Comey indicted days after Trump demanded his DOJ move ‘now’ to prosecute enemies.
September 26. The Guardian: Ex-FBI director James Comey indicted on two charges as Trump pushes to prosecute political enemies.
September 27. Huo Jingnan: FBI agents fired, including some shown kneeling during 2020 protests.
October 8. Perry Stein: A quarter of FBI agents are assigned to immigration enforcement, per FBI data: The large number of reassignments reflect a vast reshaping of the agency and could put other priorities at risk.
October 8. Salvador Rizzo & Jeremy Roebuck: Comey pleads not guilty in false statements case: The former FBI director’s defense team blasted the Justice Department’s“vindictive prosecution” and “outrageous conduct” in a case President Donald Trump pushed prosecutors to bring despite concerns about insufficient evidence.
2024
December 2. Jordan Green: Will Trump back the FBI’s battle against domestic extremists? He won’t say.