'Refused to answer': Veteran FBI agent who resigned rather than 'face professional purgatory or worse' under Kash Patel's watch sues for FOIA records after bureau clams up

U.S. Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States Kash Patel arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump holds a property briefing astatine the White House aft shots were fired astatine the Washington Hilton successful Washington, DC, wherever helium was acceptable to springiness remarks, connected April 26, 2026 (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA/via AP Images).

The Trump administration is violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by refusing to merchandise records astir FBI Director Kash Patel's efforts to purge the bureau of agents deemed disloyal to President Donald Trump, according to a suit filed this week.

In an 11-page complaint filed Wednesday successful Washington, D.C., erstwhile cause and 16-year seasoned Michael Feinberg accuses the FBI of violating statutory deadlines and unlawfully withholding records.

"To date, the FBI has failed to marque a determination connected Mr. Feinberg's petition oregon nutrient immoderate of the requested records," the suit reads. "Mr. Feinberg present brings this suit to compel compliance with the requirements of FOIA."

The litigation stems from the circumstances nether which Feinberg near the bureau successful aboriginal 2025.

In the lawsuit, Feinberg contextualizes changes wrong the FBI arsenic opening during "the archetypal months" of the 2nd Trump administration, which included "sweeping unit changes."

"Patel, assisted by a radical of employees known arsenic the Director's Advisory Team, specifically targeted agents helium perceived arsenic adverse to President Trump," the suit goes on. "Mr. Feinberg was 1 of those agents."

As the changes took root, Feinberg says, it became wide that helium was viewed with suspicion by the caller leadership.

"Mr. Feinberg learned that helium would apt suffer a promotion and alternatively look a demotion and a polygraph test," the suit continues. "Why? Because Mr. Feinberg counted among his friends a erstwhile cause fired during President Trump's archetypal term."

The person successful question was Peter Strzok, the onetime FBI cause who was fired successful 2018 aft an infamous bid of substance messages captious of Trump came to light. That relation seemingly led to questions and a telephone telephone from the Special Agent successful Charge "asking him astir his friendship."

That telephone call, Feinberg claims, came astatine the behest of Dan Bongino, then-deputy manager of the FBI.

From the complaint, astatine length:

The Special Agent successful Charge told Mr. Feinberg that, due to the fact that of his relationship with Strzok, Mr. Feinberg could nary longer expect a promotion and successful information risked demotion … A much elder worker astatine the FBI subsequently warned Mr. Feinberg that helium would beryllium expected to grovel and pledge his loyalty to the governmental enactment to enactment successful his position, and that helium whitethorn beryllium asked for whom helium voted.

"Rather than look nonrecreational purgatory oregon worse, Mr. Feinberg resigned," the suit goes on.

The erstwhile cause past became, successful his ain words, "an outspoken professional of the agency's enforcement leadership" and began a 2nd beingness arsenic a contributor for Lawfare, a national-security-focused ineligible blog. Feinberg besides works connected FBI-related issues for a nonprofit advocacy enactment that supports existent and erstwhile civilian servants astatine the U.S. Department of Justice.

In May of this year, Feinberg submitted his FOIA petition seeking "information related to his tenure astatine the bureau and the circumstances surrounding his departure," the suit notes.

"This accusation is of important nationalist interest, arsenic it sheds airy connected the workings of the nation's preeminent national instrumentality enforcement bureau during the existent administration," according to the complaint.

The suit suggests the accusation contained wrong the requested records is portion and parcel of his journalistic and nonprofit work.

"Mr. Feinberg present writes for a fashionable assemblage astir the FBI," the filing continues. "As portion of this work, helium seeks to amended recognize the changes to the bureau implemented successful this medication … helium views his nationalist speaking and penning arsenic an effort to code and ameliorate the FBI's shortcomings."

The FOIA petition was rapidly derailed by the estimated hold time, Feinberg says.

"The FBI informed Mr. Feinberg that the estimated day of completion for his petition would beryllium 2,010 days—or astir 5 and a fractional years—from erstwhile the FBI opened the request," the suit goes on. "When Mr. Feinberg asked whether the lengthy processing clip had immoderate transportation to his nationalist disapproval of caller changes astatine the agency, the FBI refused to answer."

The erstwhile cause insists helium knows his mode astir a FOIA request.

"Mr. Feinberg took attraction to beryllium arsenic granular arsenic imaginable successful crafting his FOIA petition fixed his ain anterior acquisition responding to FOIA requests portion moving astatine the FBI," the suit continues. "Mr. Feinberg constrained his requests to a constrictive clip play … Mr. Feinberg specifically requested unclassified oregon redacted materials to debar implicating immoderate exemptions nether FOIA."

Since the lengthy processing estimate, however, Feinberg has received nary further communications, the suit alleges.

The suit asks the tribunal to find an unlawful "failure to comply with FOIA," that Feinberg is "entitled to disclosure of the requested records" and to contented an bid directing the FBI to "immediately process Mr. Feinberg's petition and to disclose responsive record."

The station 'Refused to answer': Veteran FBI cause who resigned alternatively than 'face nonrecreational purgatory oregon worse' nether Kash Patel's ticker sues for FOIA records aft bureau clams up archetypal appeared connected Law & Crime.