Top DC federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro intervened to reverse the firings of at least 4 FBI agents. It was short lived.
By Katelyn Polantz, Evan Perez, CNN
(CNN) — DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro intervened Monday to reverse the firings of at least four FBI agents axed in the latest Trump administration purge at the bureau, according to multiple sources familiar with the developments this week.
While their jobs were briefly restored Monday, the FBI leadership prevailed and fired them again on Tuesday, multiple sources told CNN.
One of the sources told CNN that some of the agents Pirro tried to save from termination were involved in President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown across the capital city — which Pirro has championed — and which the administration has made clear is a priority in its law enforcement agenda.
The reversals marked an unusual moment where the Trump-appointed US attorney has tried to override a decision of other political appointees as the FBI weathers dozens of firings. It also highlights the continued push by some leaders in the Trump administration to gouge the bureau of experienced investigators who had worked on past cases tied to Trump.
The agents the FBI tried to remove had ties to the probes into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, specifically the investigation known as Arctic Frost, which focused on the fake electors scheme where Trump allies sought to have Trump electors counted as electoral college votes from states that Joe Biden won.
In the past few days, Pirro went directly to FBI leadership after learning these agents were being fired, and told them she had an interest in at least some of the agents continuing to work on an investigation out of her prosecutors’ office. That intervention prompted the bureau to reverse the firings, three sources told CNN this week.
FBI Director Kash Patel has suggested to Republicans in Congress that he plans to remove anyone involved in the Arctic Frost probe.
At least two other agents removed in the last week were tied to the Arctic Frost probe and their firings were not reversed.
A spokesperson for Pirro did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In recent weeks, Republicans have released FBI records showing details of the Arctic Frost investigation and accused former special counsel Jack Smith and FBI leaders of political motives in using grand jury subpoenas to obtain phone records of nine GOP lawmakers. The records, obtained in 2023, covered four days surrounding the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. The FBI didn’t obtain the contents of the calls. Smith has denied any political motives and said the subpoenas were routine investigative tools.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the FBI Agents Association, a membership-based advocacy organization that represents current and retired agents, condemned FBI leadership for wanting to fire the agents who had been associated with the Arctic Frost investigation, and abandoning due process in making personnel decisions.
“The actions yesterday — in which FBI Special Agents were terminated and then reinstated shortly after, and then only to be fired again today — highlight the chaos that occurs when long-standing policies and processes are ignored,” the association said. “An Agent simply being assigned to an investigation and conducting it appropriately within the law should never be grounds for termination. Director Patel has disregarded the law and launched a campaign of erratic and arbitrary retribution.”
This story and headline were updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
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