Washington – A federal judge in Washington, DC, temporarily avoided Thursday that the Department of Justice revea The United States.
The United States District Judge, Jia Cobb, ordered that the Department of Justice could not reveal the list of FBI agents who worked in investigations to anyone outside the department, which would include any other federal entity or external group , as well as public dissemination, until listening to arguments Friday as to whether to issue a temporary restriction order requested by the unidentified FBI agents and the FBI agents association in a pair of cases Brought earlier this week.
Cobb’s decision is produced after a long -time hearing, during which the Department of Justice and the lawyers of the agents discussed an order that governs the possible revelation of the names of the FBI staff that were involved in the cases of 6 January, which was compiled by the office and delivered the Department of Justice this week.
She said in her order: “The Government has represented that the information in question in this case has not been shared outside the Department of Justice.”
The brief retention will remain in place until the two parties are reconvene for the continuation of the hearing or reach an agreement on the terms of the order.
Cobb, who is in the Federal District Court in Washington and was nominated for his seat by former President Biden in 2021, said during the hearing that if the name list was released during the night, FBI agents could face ” significant and immediate danger.
The challenge arose from a memorandum Issued by the Interim Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove last week that ordered the FBI to provide current and previous lists assigned at any time to investigations and prosecutions related to the attack on the Capitol of the United States.
The department required the FBI to deliver the information on Tuesday, and the office complied with the deadline, said the Department of Justice. The interim director of the FBI, Brian Driscoll, told the office that the data provided to employees identified by their unique employee identifier, current title, title at the time of the investigation of January 6, the office where They are currently assigned, paper in the investigation of the prosecution and the date of the last activity related to the probes.
Mr. Trump has Kash nominated patelA close ally of the president, to lead the FBI, but the Senate has not yet voted for confirmation.
A lawyer who represents the agents and employees of the FBI without a name said that if it were not for Driscoll delivering identification numbers, the government would have a list of the names of the agents who worked in the cases of January 6. The Department of Justice also has information Compiled through surveys Sent to certain FBI employees about their activities related to research on January 6, including the scope of their roles, he warned.
“We are one step away from those names that are released,” said the lawyer, adding that it will be “irreparable” if they are disclosed.
The lawyer said that a main concern is that the names of the FBI staff could seep a third party or published by the Trump administration.
“Our argument is that the threat to national security is so extreme that we cannot risk letting happen first and then trying to assemble it again,” he said.
The lawyer said that, since Trump returned to the White House, billionaire Elon Musk, through the Efficiency Department of the White House Government, or Doge, has made public the names of other government employees. She also said that some accused of January 6 that were granted clemency by Mr. Trump They have also suggested on social networks that would point to FBI agents.
Mark Zaid, who represents some of the unidentified FBI employees, estimated that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 whose information was delivered to the Department of Justice.
A lawyer from the Department of Justice, Jeremy Simon, was round trip with Cobb about the language of a possible court order that would temporarily prohibit the Department of Justice to reveal without prior notice the list of FBI agents linked to January 6 to entities and people outside the department.
When asked if any other government agency intends to disseminate that information while the court considers a motion for a preliminary court, Simon said he was not able to make representations about agencies outside the Department of Justice.
Simon also refused to confirm definitively that the names had not been shared outside the Department of Justice, telling the judge that there has not been an “official dissemination.”
The Department of Justice has argued in a judicial presentation that was looking for information about the FBI employees who worked in the cases of January 6 to begin a review process together with the executive order of Mr. Trump aimed at ending what what He calls the weapons of the federal government.
Government lawyers argued in a Judicial presentation On Thursday morning I believed that there should not be a temporary restriction order implemented due to the “speculation that implies future potential damage predictions”, not real damage to the government’s eyes, and the “speculative” belief of the FBI agents that the list of agents can leak out of the department.
Meanwhile, Bove tried to calm the concerns that the agents could be taken in retaliation in an email disseminated to the FBI on Wednesday, writing that “no FBI employee who simply followed the orders and carried out their functions ethically with Regarding the investigations of January 6.
The deputy attorney general, who served as a defense lawyer of Mr. Trump, wrote that “the only people who should worry about the process initiated by my memorandum on January 31, 2025 are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intention, which blatantly Challenged orders of department leadership, or who exercised discretion in the FBI weapons. “
At the request of a temporary restriction order, the FBI agents argued that the Department of Justice plans to take “adverse employment actions” and make public the names and identities of the attacked. A group of seven FBI agents and the FBI agents association said the dissemination would damage them, their colleagues and families, “almost guaranteeing that they will face threats of physical damage and emotional harassment in violation of their first amendment and rights of due process” .
The lawyers of the FBI agents wrote at the request that the Department of Justice seeks to retaliate against them making their identities public “simply because these people did their duties honorably in relation to the sensitive investigations of the application of the law.”
“Such acts are inconceivable, dangerous to the American and illegal public under the constitution of the United States and numerous federal laws,” they wrote.
But the lawyers of the Department of Justice said that the request of the agents is based on a “speculation that implies future predictions of potential damage related to the information provided.”
“The plaintiffs can point out anything to suggest that the government tries to make the list public in this case,” they wrote in a presentation. “On the contrary, the department and management of the FBI have repeatedly emphasized the purpose of the list is to carry out an internal review, do not expose special agents dedicated to insult or public ridicule.”
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