Fired FBI official: I was asked to take Trump loyalty pledge

Ben StocktonTue, May 12, 2026 at 8:12 PM UTC

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Lawsuit from Brian Driscoll accuses Kash Patel (pictured) of ‘politicising the FBI over protecting the American people’ - Reuters

A decorated FBI official who is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal said he was asked to pledge loyalty to Donald Trump during his vetting for the role.

In his first interview since leaving the FBI in 2025, Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, told CNN he was repeatedly asked about his personal political views while being interviewed for the role.

Mr Driscoll and two other senior FBI officials are suing Kash Patel, the head of the agency, and the FBI over allegations of wrongful termination.

The lawsuit accuses Mr Patel – the subject of recent media reports detailing excessive drinking and erratic behaviour during his tenure as FBI director – of “politicising the FBI over protecting the American people”.

Shortly before Mr Trump’s inauguration, Mr Driscoll said he received a phone call from Mr Patel, who had already been picked as the incoming president’s nominee for the agency’s top job, pending confirmation by the US Senate.

He allegedly told Mr Driscoll that his vetting process would not be an issue so long as he wasn’t active on social media, didn’t donate to the Democratic Party and did not vote for Kamala Harris.

Brian Driscoll, who served as the interim director of the agency under the US president, is suing the agency for wrongful dismissal - FBI

Later, in a vetting call with Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer in the Trump transition team, Mr Driscoll claims he was asked about his loyalty to the president-elect.

He said Mr Ingrassia asked him who he voted for and when he started supporting Mr Trump, questions which he declined to answer.

Mr Driscoll said he had never previously been asked about his political affiliations or views in his near-20 year career with the FBI. Despite telling Mr Ingrassia that it was “inappropriate” for him to be asking such questions, he said he continued.

“He asked me, ‘Do I agree that the agents who stormed Mar-a-Lago’ – his words not mine – ‘should be held accountable?’ I did answer that one, with an absolute no,” he said, referring to Mr Trump’s Florida home, which was raided by the FBI in 2022.

In a follow-up call with Emil Bove, another lawyer who would later become Mr Trump’s acting deputy attorney general, Mr Driscoll said he was told that he had failed the vetting process.

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However, Mr Bove apparently said he had “flipped it” and Mr Driscoll would still be named acting deputy director.

Even though Mr Driscoll was approached to be the agency’s second-in-command, a “clerical error” by the White House shortly after Mr Trump’s inauguration meant he was accidentally announced as the FBI’s acting director.

“You can imagine how surprised I was,” he said, describing the process as “farcical”.

Mr Driscoll said Mr Bove later asked him for a list of all FBI agents who had been involved in the investigations into the Jan 6 riots.

“I was resistant – legally and professionally resistant – to providing the names unless you tell me they’re going to be subject to existing processes to investigate any accusation of misconduct,” Mr Driscoll said. “The only response I got was, ‘They will be subject to a DOJ-led review.’ He couldn’t articulate what that review would entail.”

He was accused of “insubordination” for not handing over the list.

Mr Patel was confirmed as FBI director in February 2025; Mr Driscoll was fired from the agency in August.

In their lawsuit, Mr Driscoll and the other FBI officials claim Mr Patel told Mr Driscoll that “he had to fire the people his superiors told him to fire, because his ability to keep his own job depended on the removal of the agents who worked on cases involving the President.”

In addition to the firing of senior FBI officials, a wave of resignations and retirements has added even greater tumult to the agency.

Mr Patel has denied allegations included in a report by The Atlantic magazine, which detailed “episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences”.

In February, he was filmed chugging a beer while celebrating with the US men’s ice hockey team after their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics in Milan.

Mr Patel said he had “never been intoxicated on the job”. He has sued the magazine, demanding $250m (£185m) in damages.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Breaking”