Efforts to drain the swamp were well underway as reports of reassignments under the acting FBI director smacked down an “untouchable” presumption.
Amid the flurry of memorandums, proclamations and executive orders that President Donald Trump has already signed, ending the weaponization of the federal government was at the top of the pile. Before necessary reviews could even begin, at least 15 employees, some with noted connections to lawfare against the GOP leader, were being moved from their previous roles ahead of the confirmation hearing of Kash Patel.
According to the Washington Post, Department of Justice National Security Division Deputy Attorneys General Eun Young Choi and George Toscas, head of DOJ’s public integrity section Corey Amundson and Bruce Swartz, once in charge of DOJ’s office of international affairs, were among those reassigned.
“I don’t believe there were ever any career people fired at transition since the national security division was founded,” former DOJ official Mary McCord told the Post, contending the timing was unusual. “One of the values of having career deputies in the national security division is consistency, institutional memory, and the relationships that they build with our national security partners.”
While the newspaper spoke about a federal guideline that called for a “120-day moratorium on certain staff reassignments” after nominees were confirmed by the Senate, it was suggested that acting officials were making the most of the hearing schedule to get to work.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, former FBI agent and contributor Nicole Parker said, “I came from the private sector before the FBI, and I noticed such a contrast. The private sector, if you’re not doing your job, of course, you’re going to get fired. But when you come to the federal government, there was almost this mood of, you know, we’re untouchable.”
“And I really believe that those days are over,” she went on as Trump had appointed Brian Driscoll acting director of the FBI until Patel’s confirmation. “You are working for the American taxpayers. It is their taxpayer dollars that need to be put to good use. And if you’re not doing your job, you really should be removed. I do believe that there will be people who may not be on board with Trump’s plans, and they’ll choose to walk away on their own.”
The nomination of Patel led to now-former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s resignation, which was ultimately followed by acting FBI Director Paul Abbate stepping down hours before the inauguration.
“He had to have known that his days were likely very much numbered,” said Parker of Abbate’s retirement. “It’s been widely publicized and well known that Paul Abbate was involved in pushing the raid at Mar-a-Lago. Also, he was very involved in pushing the Jan. 6 misdemeanor cases that were worked rigorously at the FBI.”
“I imagine that he knew, rather than being removed upon Trump’s arrival, that it might be best in his interest to just move on. And I think that probably was a good idea on his part,” she added.
Similarly, the Associated Press detailed that Toscas had been a “key supervisor in politically charged probes over the last decade including into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information and Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.”
A former colleague from the national security division told the Post anonymously, “[Toscas] has seen everything in both counterterrorism and counterintelligence. There is no one in the department who knows as much about prosecuting and investigating terrorists and spies as George Toscas,” furthering the narrative that Trump’s challenge to the establishment somehow posed a risk.
Currently, Patel’s confirmation hearing was scheduled to begin on Jan. 29 before the Senate Judiciary Committee while former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has already sat for a hearing for her nomination as U.S. Attorney General.
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