Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, LITIGATION NEWS, TRENDS—FBI agents and employees involved in January 6, Mar-a-Lago investigations sue, allege they are being targeted, (Feb 5, 2025)

By Brandi O. Brown, J.D.

“Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons.”

In a new lawsuit filed yesterday, nine John and Jane Doe plaintiffs filed a putative class action seeking “immediate relief to enjoin the aggregation, storage, reporting, publication or dissemination of any list or compilation of information that would identify FBI agents and other personnel, and tie them directly to January 6 and Mar-a-Lago case activities.”

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are currently employed FBI agents and/or employees who were involved in the investigation of the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States capitol building and/or the unlawful removal, retention, and storage of classified documents by Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

Part of the purge. Upon his return to the Presidency, the suit alleges, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to “conduct a review and purge of FBI personnel involved in these investigations and prosecutions.” This directive, they allege, is unlawful and retaliatory, and violates the Civil Service Reform Act.

Told to fill out survey. They also allege that they or their supervisors have been instructed to fill out a survey that would identify their specific role in the Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago cases, which they have been told will be forwarded to upper management. They assert that the purpose of the list being compiled is to identify agents for termination or other adverse employment actions. They allege that shortly after Trump’s inauguration and before this instruction, DOJ terminated all attorneys who prosecuted the January 6 cases and that those terminations were directed by Trump. They allege that they were told that the order to fill out the survey was a lawful order according to the DOJ Office of General Counsel.

Constitutional violations. “Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons.” They allege that this gathering, retention, and disclosure is a violation of their First Amendment rights as retaliation based on perceived political affiliation, their Fifth Amendment substantive due process rights, as well as their Fifth Amendment right to privacy. They also allege that publication or dissemination of the information would be a violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 and would place them in immediate risk of serious harm.

The case is No. 1:25-cv-00325.

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