The head of the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) is cautiously optimistic that newly minted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will steady the ship at the Department of Justice (DOJ) after turbulent weeks since President Donald Trump took office.
FBIAA president and CEO Natalie Baratold Fox News Digital in an interview this week that she is eager to see if Bondi will make good on her pledge to end political weaponization at the FBI and the Justice Department.
This new leadership could reduce some of the heat agents have felt in recent weeks, she said, citing firings and forced departures of some personnel – as well as a questionnaire requiring agents to detail their roles in the Jan. 6 investigation.
Bara pointed specifically to Bondi’s vows to not go after Trump opponents or chase down any so-called ‘enemies lists,’ two promises Bondi cited repeatedly last month during her confirmation hearing.
‘I’m optimistic about her statements moving forward, in that she has stated that people would not be targeted for simply doing their job,’ Bara said. ‘So I think we are optimistic in moving forward.’
Even so, she added, ‘there are still real concerns about compiling lists when looking at this stuff and being able to potentially release agents’ names.’
FBIAA, a voluntary professional association, represents more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents. The agency joined nine anonymous FBI employees earlier this week in suing the Justice Department to block access to records of agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigation, citing fears of internal punishment or retaliation, as well as threats to the agents or the agents’ families should their names be made public.
The judge in the case, U.S. Judge Jia Cobb, is expected to rule on their request for emergency injunctive relief early Friday afternoon.
The interview comes as rank-and-file DOJ and FBI employees have been roiled by recent firings at DOJ, forced resignations or retirements of FBI personnel and a detailed questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI agents asking them to detail their involvement in the Jan. 6 investigations.
Justice Department acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove attempted to assuage FBI agents’ fears. He stressed in a recent email that the effort was simply to obtain and review what role agents played in the Jan. 6 investigation, and was not intended to be a precursor to a mass expulsion of employees.
The lawsuit filed this week emphasized their intent to ensure their identities were not released to the public and that they were not retaliated against for doing their jobs.
Bara underscored these deep-running concerns to Fox News, noting that FBI employees and the agent association ‘didn’t have much clarification on what that list was going to be utilized for, besides a broad statement of just personnel actions,’ when the DOJ issued its request.
‘So it raised a lot of concern within the bureau – mainly because we have seen over the past few weeks the associate U.S. attorneys on the investigation be terminated, and then our seventh floor leadership be presented with ultimatums to either retire or be terminated.’
Other former department officials cited similar concerns in recent days, expressing fear that any mass purge of employees could compromise decades of agency experience across the bureau’s more than 52 field offices, who have deep knowledge of complex issue areas ranging from counterterrorism and violent crime to drug trafficking, cartel activity and more.
‘It takes a really long time to get an agent hired and through the process,’ Bara told Fox News Digital, citing the lengthy background check and clearance process, as well as training at Quantico, Virginia.
‘We can’t just pick somebody up off the street tomorrow and make them an FBI agent,’ she said. ‘So when we lose FBI agents – whether it be through retirement or some sort of ‘mass purge,’ to use a term that’s been thrown around in the media, it will take years and years and years, if not decades, to replace that experience.’
‘That’s scary for everyone at the bureau because we need to be able to have those people standing next to us to be able to get this work done.’
Bara said the ‘best case scenario’ is that the identities of the FBI agents are kept private and that the installation of permanent leadership at DOJ and FBI will resolve the controversy as DOJ commits to a process for looking at the Jan. 6 investigations.
‘I don’t know of an FBI agent who doesn’t stand by their work, so we welcome a review of the work,’ she said. ‘But we are just concerned that it will be done in a thorough and fair manner.’