It’s not every day that the internal workings of the FBI become the center of a national firestorm, but that’s exactly what has happened this August. A wave of high-profile firings at the FBI, all tied to the contentious January 6 Capitol riot investigations, has sent shockwaves through Washington and beyond. The moves have sparked accusations of political purging, prompted a rare open letter from a bipartisan group of former national security officials, and placed the agency’s independence under the national microscope.
On August 9, 2025, The Steady State—a group of more than 300 former intelligence, defense, and diplomatic officials, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations—issued a stark open letter. Their warning? That a ‘purge’ is underway at the FBI, threatening its role as a bulwark of American democracy. The letter, addressed to current Bureau officials, cited the recent firings of Agents Brian Driscoll, Michael Feinberg, and Walter Giardina as evidence of a broader campaign to dismantle the FBI’s independence and recast it as a tool of political loyalty.
The letter didn’t mince words. “The recent removals of seasoned FBI leaders—most notably Agents Brian Driscoll, Michael Feinberg, Walter Giardina—are not isolated personnel matters. They appear part of a broader campaign to dismantle the FBI’s long-standing independence and recast it as a tool of political loyalty,” the group wrote. They further accused FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino of being “unqualified political loyalists… whose resumes do not meet the basic standards for leadership.” According to The Steady State, “It is not about reform. It is about control.”
These firings, which took place on August 7, 2025, have a human side, too. Special Agent Walter Giardina, a Marine combat veteran who had recently lost his wife Colleen to cancer just weeks prior, was among those ousted. Colleen Giardina, a former ballet dancer and teacher, died in Fairfax, Virginia, at age 49, leaving behind two sons. The timing of Giardina’s removal—so soon after his wife’s passing—added a poignant note to an already fraught situation.
Giardina’s career was marked by high-profile cases. He contributed to Robert Mueller’s 2016 investigation into Russian election interference and played a role in the arrest of Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro after Navarro refused to testify before the House committee on the January 6 riot. Giardina’s commitment to his work was well known among colleagues, with many describing him as scrupulous and ethical. In a 2003 message during his service in Iraq, Giardina wrote to his late wife, “I can’t tell you how much I miss you. More than ever! I value our wonderful relationship. Just knowing that I have you gives me so much strength.”
The circumstances of the firings have raised eyebrows. MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian reported that Brian Driscoll, the former Acting Deputy Director, was ‘clapped out’ of an FBI facility in Virginia, with more than 200 people paying tribute after he refused to carry out Trump administration plans to fire agents involved in the January 6 investigation. Driscoll’s refusal to provide a list of FBI agents working on the January 6 investigations to Trump’s Department of Justice led to accusations of insubordination by then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, according to Politico.
Assistant Director Steven Jensen, who was appointed by Patel just four months earlier, was also dismissed amid mounting pressure from MAGA-aligned voices, reported The New York Times. The specifics of his removal remain less clear, but the pattern was unmistakable: all three officials had ties to the January 6 investigations and had, in some way, resisted political pressure.
The firings were formalized in official notices, one of which, posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Ken Dilanian, bore Director Patel’s signature and accused Giardina of “poor judgment” and a “lack of impartiality,” leading to the “political weaponization of the government.” The FBI declined to comment on the authenticity of the notice in communications with The Daily Beast.
The fallout went beyond the Bureau’s walls. Peter Navarro, the former Trump trade adviser who was arrested by Giardina, celebrated the agent’s dismissal on X. “FBI’s Walter Giardina ran my circus arrest at Reagan Airport, slapped me in leg irons, lied to a grand jury, put me in prison—and tried to jail Trump in the Russia Hoax. I got prison. He got fired. Time to investigate his weaponized ass,” he wrote, encapsulating the charged rhetoric surrounding the case.
The Steady State’s letter drew on the group’s collective experience, warning of the dangers of demanding loyalty from security services to a political figure rather than the law. “We have seen these dynamics abroad—leaders who demand loyalty from security services not to the law, but to themselves. These regimes do not end well,” the letter cautioned. The group emphasized that the FBI’s independence is “not a bureaucratic feature; it is a democratic necessity.”
Director Patel’s tenure has been marked by a willingness to align the Bureau’s resources with the Trump administration’s political agenda. Patel has agreed to use the FBI to assist Texas law enforcement in apprehending Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to prevent a vote on redistricting, an effort spearheaded by GOP Senator John Cornyn. This, coupled with the firings, has fueled concerns that the Bureau is being transformed into a personal enforcement arm of the president.
The Steady State’s message to FBI personnel was one of solidarity and encouragement. “To our friends and colleagues in the Bureau, past and present: we recognize the pressure you are under. We honor your service and the sacrifices you’ve made—quietly, honorably, often without recognition. And we want you to know: we stand with you. Your integrity matters. Your courage matters. The nation is watching, and will be inspired by the FBI. And history will remember.”
The story has sparked debate across the political spectrum, with some viewing the firings as necessary housecleaning in a politicized agency, while others see them as a dangerous precedent that undermines the rule of law. The fate of the FBI’s independence, and the broader implications for American democracy, remain very much in play.
As the dust settles, the firings of Driscoll, Giardina, and Jensen stand as a stark reminder of the tension between political power and institutional integrity. The Steady State’s warning, echoed by many in the intelligence community, is clear: the future of the FBI—and perhaps the country’s democratic norms—hangs in the balance.