SALT LAKE CITY — The names of 50 FBI employees across Utah, Idaho and Montana have been included on a list of personnel who investigated or arrested suspects in the U.S. Capitol riots or investigated one or more other matters displeasing to the Trump administration, FOX 13 News has learned.
The source who spoke to FOX 13 News on the condition of anonymity said the 50 names include both agents and support personnel. Staff members fear the list and the larger one spanning FBI offices across the world is being compiled for terminations or other types of retribution.
FBI personnel in Utah, Idaho and Montana are managed by what the bureau calls the Salt Lake City Field Office, with a few hundred employees thought to work in those three states.
A spokeswoman for the Salt Lake City Field Office declined comment Wednesday. On Tuesday, the FBI Agents Association held a news conference discussing a lawsuit it has filed to stop any retaliation.
“FBI agents do not choose the cases they investigate,” said association President Natalie Bara. “They are assigned to cases by their superiors. They follow the evidence, enforce the law and do their jobs with integrity.”
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Chris Mattei, an attorney representing the Association, said his clients were concerned the identities of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 investigations would be publicly disclosed, “in part because of the public comments that have been made by members of the administration that suggest retribution is part of their objection here.”
“If disclosure were to be made,” Mattei added, “that would subject these agents not only to significant employment ramifications but also to the types of harassment, threat, targeting that we’ve seen other people endure who have been… targeted in this way.”
FOX 13 News reached out to Utah’s congressional delegation for reaction.
A spokesman to Sen. Mike Lee (R) pointed to a statement from the acting U.S. attorney general saying “no FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner” is at risk of firing.
Sen. John Curtis (R) issued a statement.
"Federal agents who follow lawful directives should not be punished for carrying out their assigned responsibilities,” Curtis said.