James E. Dennehy, the leader of the FBI's New York field office, in an email to staff over the weekend said the agency was in a "battle of our own" and vowed to "dig in" after the Trump administration fired a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal case and demanded the names of FBI agents involved in those same probes, reported The New York Times.
"Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy," he wrote.
Dennehy said the removal of nine high-ranking officials at the FBI had spread "fear and angst within the FBI ranks."
He also referred to those who left the bureau as "extraordinary individuals," adding, "I mourn the forced retirements."
President Donald Trump on Monday praised his pick to head the FBI, Kash Patel, as "the one guy" to "make the FBI great again."
"Look at what they've done in terms of weaponization. Look at what they've done to a political opponent. Probably got me elected by what they did," Trump said of the agency that he called "very corrupt."
"I think I was doing well anyway, but they might've got me elected. But you know what? We have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement. And what we want to do — Kash is the one to do it. He's the one guy that's going to do it," Trump told reporters. "Kash will straighten it out. We have great confidence that we can make the FBI great again."