Attorney General Phil Weiser and coalition of attorneys general urge Senate to demand answers on retaliation efforts from FBI director nominee

Feb. 4, 2025 (DENVER) — A coalition of attorneys general today sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, urging the Senate to require Kash Patel, President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, to return for further questioning before the committee about alarming reports of politically motivated firings at the FBI and efforts to compile a list of agents involved in investigating the January 6th Capitol riots.

“FBI officials who serve our nation well enforcing the law and taking part in criminal prosecutions should be thanked for their service, not subject to retaliation. The efforts to fire FBI and DOJ officials who did their job is a threat to the rule of law and we need to make sure we’re doing all we can to defend this cardinal principle of our legal system,” said Attorney General Phil Weiser.

In addition to concerns about reports of politically motivated firings at the FBI, the letter raises disturbing reports that “the Administration plans to fire at least six high-ranking career FBI officials if they do not retire” and that “acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove directed FBI staff to compile a list of all staff who were ‘assigned at any time to investigations and/or prosecutions’ relating to the January 6th riots.” The attorneys general state, “If true, this is a purge of FBI employees.”

The attorneys general stress that before any confirmation vote, the Senate should probe what Mr. Patel plans to do with the list of FBI agents and staff.

Beyond the FBI purge, the letter condemns additional attacks on law enforcement by the Trump administration, including the firing of U.S. attorneys, pardoning rioters who killed and injured Capitol Police Officers, and attempting to cut off funding for law enforcement across the country.

Letter (PDF download) to Senate Judiciary Chairman.

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