Two unnamed former FBI special agents have sued FBI Director Kash Patel, claiming he violated their First and Fifth Amendment rights when he fired them, allegedly without notice, internal investigation, or hearing, according to a court filing.
The plaintiffs also named U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) as co-defendants in their complaint.
Why It Matters
The plaintiffs, merely identified as John Doe 1 and 2, were involved in the Arctic Frost investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which alleged that President Donald Trump, then out of office, broke the law in attempting to overturn the election he lost to Joe Biden.
Trump was criminally charged in 2023 in an indictment that accused him of a months-long campaign of lies about the election results and seeking to exploit the 2021 Capitol attack to further delay the counting of votes.
Special counsel Jack Smith moved to drop the case after Trump won reelection in November of last year. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot face criminal prosecution.
What To Know
The court filing alleges that when Republicans disclosed Arctic Frost documents in October 2025, lawmakers decried the agents involved in the investigation as “partisan operatives” and revealed the names of some of those agents.
Soon after this revelation, Patel fired the plaintiffs, which they allege was done “based solely on their assignment to Arctic Frost.”
“Defendant Patel, Defendant Pamela J. Bondi, President Trump, and others who urged the agents’ firings perceived the agents to be politically opposed to President Trump because of the agents’ assignment to Arctic Frost,” the complaint states, adding that Trump and Patel made “public statements impugning the integrity of Arctic Frost agents,” of which Patel called them “corrupt actors” who had engaged in “weaponized law enforcement.”
Attorneys said the plaintiffs were assigned to Arctic Frost by their superiors at the FBI, and it was one of many investigations they handled while employed by the agency.
“In Arctic Frost, as in all other investigations to which they were assigned, Plaintiffs fully adhered to DOJ policies and procedures, including applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and executed their law enforcement duties without bias or political motive,” the lawsuit states.
John Doe 1 had served with the FBI for over 21 years at the time of his firing, and he would have been eligible to retire with a full pension in 2028. John Doe 2 had served with the FBI for nearly eight years at the time of his firing. Both consistently received “Exemplary” ratings in performance reviews, according to the lawsuit.
“In the course of unlawfully terminating Plaintiffs’ respective employment without due process of law, Defendants—primarily through Patel—publicly connected the termination actions to allegations that the terminated Arctic Frost agents had been ‘weaponizing’ the FBI. This false and defamatory public smear impugned the professional reputation of all publicly identified
fired Arctic Frost agents,” the lawsuit states.
What Happens Next
The plaintiffs ask for the court to issue an order requiring the FBI to reinstate them and prevent the agency from taking any further adverse personnel action against each of them without providing “appropriate procedural due process.” Any reinstatement would also require the FBI to amend its records and personnel folders.
Additionally, they ask the court to award the costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees, as well as “such other relief as the Court may deem just and proper.”
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Update 3/19/26, 4:56 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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