Well, that did not take too long.
An FBI agent who had been suspended for COVID-19 media leaks just found himself on the wrong side of FBI Director Kash Patel.
Reports indicated that Steve Friend, who had only recently been reinstated to his role by President Donald Trump, was dismissed anew on Friday.
Friend became a bit of a household name not only for his whistleblowing reports about COVID-era investigations, but also regarding the Jan. 6 investigations being conducted by the FBI.
For instance, in the fall of 2022, he had written to the DOJ’s Inspector General, “The investigations were inconsistent with FBI procedure and resulted in the violation of citizens’ Sixth and Eight [sic] Amendment rights."
According to the report, the FBI was using its SWAT tactical units to make arrests, claiming it was “inappropriate to use an FBI SWAT team to arrest a subject for misdemeanor offenses.”
Dan Meyer, Friend’s attorney, stated, “This investigative misconduct is impacting people’s civil liberties. They’re being subject to search warrants that are unlawful. They’re being subject to a violation of their constitutional rights, the Bill of Rights. “
In August of this year, Friend was reinstated to his role at the FBI by President Trump.
In fact, the administration reached an agreement with 10 agents, including Friend, who had been disciplined by the Biden administration for their whistleblower activity and for daring to question COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
Friend stated that despite his “exemplary” performance, he was suspended indefinitely, then forced to resign.
The agreement reached with the administration returned three of the agents to active duty with the FBI, with the other seven receiving back pay and being permitted to voluntarily retire.
It would appear that Mr. Friend continued his habits of leaking information to the media, as it was just reported that he has been terminated from the FBI for "unprofessional conduct and poor judgment.”
According to the letter allegedly sent to Friend, the FBI stated that he had "participated in unauthorized interactions with the media, publicly disseminated media sources, and commented publicly on FBI matters and ongoing FBI investigations."
The letter went on to claim that he had "disseminated media sources and photographs identifying an alleged subject and discussed the alleged subject on your podcast, despite the lack of credible, verifiable evidence necessary to publicly identify the subject."
Based on how Friend reacted the first time, it is a fairly safe assumption that he will likely bring legal action against the DOJ once again to try to save his job. This time, however, I don’t see the administration giving in to him. Loose lips sink ships, and it would appear that Friend’s boat is filled with holes right now.
