Even more unimaginable

FBI turns over details of 5,000 employees who worked on Capitol riot cases, sources say

From CNN's Josh Campbell, Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz

FBI officials have complied with demands to provide the Justice Department with details of thousands of employees who worked on investigations related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot, according to people familiar with the situation.

The demand has caused consternation among FBI employees who fear it is meant to amass a list of personnel for possible termination by the Trump administration.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, in a Friday memo with the subject line “Terminations,” had given FBI officials a noon deadline Tuesday to submit the details of thousands of agents and analysts. Bove previously ordered the firing of eight senior FBI officials, including those who oversaw cyber, national security and criminal investigations.

More than 5,000 employee details were submitted, including employee ID numbers, job titles and their role in the January 6 investigations, sources said, but not their names. There are more than 13,000 agents and 38,000 total FBI employees.

Meanwhile, officials dispatched by Elon Musk have been seen at FBI headquarters. Musk has headed up efforts by President Donald Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

But several FBI employees on Tuesday sued the Justice Department, accusing it of violating the Constitution and privacy laws by demanding that agents complete a survey allegedly designed to “purge” bureau personnel. The agents want a federal judge to block the Trump administration from publishing or releasing the surveys or any information included in their answers.