Judge dismisses suit seeking to block ID of FBI agents who investigated Jan. 6 cases

A federal judge agreed Thursday to a request by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to block the release of the names of thousands of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 cases.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, an appointee of former President Biden, expressed sympathy for agents who went to court seeking limitations on the Trump administration after the Justice Department demanded a list of all who had done investigative work on the cases of rioters.

“Plaintiffs filed these cases in a whirlwind of chaos and fear,” Cobb wrote, adding that “some former January 6 defendants, now pardoned and at large, called for FBI agents to be doxed (or worse).”

“Since then, the dust has settled some—and this case has evolved,” Cobb continued.

FBI agents have been in court since February, filing the case shortly after eight top career FBI officials were fired, and Principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, now nominated for a lifetime appointment to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, demanded the list.

But Cobb determined the Justice Department does not appear poised to act on agents’ fears that a list would be used not only to fire agents but publicly release their identities as an act of retribution.

“The Court ordered expedited jurisdictional discovery to cut through the chaos and allow Plaintiffs to shore up their standing allegations,” Cobb wrote.

“That discovery revealed no evidence that Defendants are on the verge of disclosing Plaintiffs’ identities, nor have Plaintiffs plausibly alleged that such a disclosure is imminent. The Court must therefore dismiss Plaintiffs’ disclosure-related claims.”

Attorneys for the FBI Agents Association said they were prepared to return to court if the government did not fulfill its pledge.

“We are proud to defend the FBI employees who bravely investigated the January 6th attacks. The Court acknowledged that the disclosure of agents’ names would endanger them and accepted the Government’s claims that it would not do so. We stand ready to return to Court immediately if the Government does not live up to its obligations,” attorneys Margaret Donovan and Chris Mattei said in a statement.

Bove has not denied the list will be used to review the work of the thousands of agents who played a role in the cases of Jan. 6, 2021, rioters and did not foreclose the possibility that some could be fired. Agents were also asked to fill out a questionnaire about their role in the sprawling investigation.

“No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove wrote shortly after requesting the list.