FBI agents who worked on cases related to the January 6 capitol riot are suing President Trump's Department of Justice to stop the creation of lists of agents they say could lead to retaliation against them and others.
The class action lawsuit is meant to thwart any attempts by DOJ leadership to create lists of agents and embark on a campaign of retaliation, Politico reported. The lawsuit also seeks to protect the identities of individuals who worked on cases involving President Trump.
Trump pardoned the nearly 1,600 January 6 defendants shortly after taking office. Individuals who had been convicted and were serving time were freed; in other instances, pending criminal cases were wiped out.
The class action lawsuit was, in-part, prompted by a survey that DOJ is using to identify who participated in the investigations.
The survey focuses on who did what related to the investigations. The four-page survey includes "drop-down" lists meant to focus on the roles of individual members of law enforcement related to the capitol riots and also any Trump-related investigations.
"Plaintiffs legitimately fear that the information being compiled will be accessed by persons who are not authorized to have access to it. Plaintiffs further assert that even if they are not targeted for termination, they may face other retaliatory acts such as demotion, denial of job opportunities, or denial of promotions in the future," the lawsuit states, according to Politico.
The agents who filed the lawsuit did so anonymously and are only identified as "John and Jane Does," according to the Associated Press. The lawsuit states that the agents were told to complete the survey or their supervisors would do it for them. The AP reported that the lawsuit states they were told survey results would be sent to "upper management."
According to the AP, the agents content that "the very act of compiling lists of persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel and to discourage them from reporting any future malfeasance and by Donald Trump and his agents."
