A group of ex-national security officials is protesting the Trump administration’s recent removal of high-level intelligence officers as “a purge.”
In an open letter published Saturday, the group, which calls itself “The Steady State,” condemned the Trump administration’s decision to fire three FBI officials: former Acting Director Brian Driscoll and Special Agents Walter Giardina and Michael Feinberg. The signatories said the removal of these agents appeared “part of a broader campaign to dismantle the FBI’s long-standing independence and recast it as a tool of political loyalty.”
The letter continued by denouncing the move as “a purge” of officials whose views expressed “perceived personal disloyalty to former President Donald Trump.”
The Steady State is a group of hundreds of former intelligence, defense policy, diplomacy, law enforcement, and Congressional workers that claims to be nonpartisan, although recent statements by the group’s Executive Director, Steven Cash, show an anti-Trump lean.
Speaking about the recent revelations about the Trump-Russia collusion allegations, Cash said in an interview that, “A lot of documents have been released, but it doesn’t appear to be anything there that makes sense.” Cash continued by calling the renewal of the Trump administration’s efforts to uncover the truth about the Russiagate conspiracy evidence of “a democracy sliding into an autocracy.”
Critics have called the removal of Driscoll, Giardina, and Feinberg politically motivated. Although no official reason has been released, analysts have pointed out that these officials may have acted against the commands of the Commander in Chief, among other things.
According to MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian, Driscoll’s ouster was directly related to his refusal to carry out an order from then Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to compile a list of all agents involved in investigating cases related to January 6th.
Similarly, analysts have connected Giardina’s firing to his involvement in the investigation of former Trump trade official Peter Navarro, who Trump often said was “treated horribly by the Deep State.”
Feinberg retired, he claimed, at the threat of the Trump administration, which was probing his relationship with Peter Strzok, the lead FBI agent who investigated President Trump’s connection with Russia before revelations of extreme anti-Trump rhetoric with subordinates.
The current director of the FBI, Kash Patel, wrote a letter to Giardina explaining his firing.
“This document provides official notice that you are being summarily dismissed from your position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and removed from the federal service, under my authority as the FBI Director, effective immediately,” Patel wrote. “You have exercised poor judgment and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of the government.”
The Steady State’s letter also singled out Patel and Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who they claim are “unqualified political loyalists.”
Referring to Bongino and Patel’s appointments, The Steady State said, “The aim, it seems, is to transform the FBI from a respected, constitutionally grounded investigative service into a personal enforcement arm of a political figure.”
