FBI Whistleblower Claims Trump Pushed Probe of LA Anti-ICE Protesters: Report

FILE – An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

A former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst accused the Trump administration of pressuring the bureau to investigate peaceful protesters despite concerns that doing so would violate their constitutional rights.

Jill Fields, who worked the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, alleged in a whistleblower complaint that senior officials pushed agents to scrutinize anti-ICE demonstrators after President Donald Trump personally took an interest in their activities.

According to the complaint, reported by NBC News, one official told Fields an investigation would be opened because “the President wants this investigation.”

Fields said the pressure came after Trump viewed footage of protesters using megaphones to warn Los Angeles residents about immigration enforcement operations, explain their legal rights and urge them not to open their doors unless agents produced signed judicial warrants.

The FBI had already reviewed the conduct and declined to open an investigation, according to the complaint. Fields alleges the White House subsequently directed FBI Director Kash Patel to pursue the matter anyway.

She separately alleged that Emil Bove, then acting deputy attorney general, instructed the head of the Los Angeles field office to investigate activity outside a federal building that Fields believed was protected by the First Amendment.

Fields said supervisors were instructed not to document certain directives, meaning many were delivered during face-to-face meetings. She also alleged that FBI agents working active cartel investigations were reassigned to the protest response for what one supervisor described as “optics” intended to “make a show for the president.”

Fields ultimately refused to participate and said she subsequently resigned.

Her complaint said the response “created a chilling effect within the workforce” and “signaled to other employees that raising constitutional or legal concerns could carry professional consequences.”

A Justice Department spokesperson, meanwhile, rejected the allegations in a statement to NBC News.

“Under President Trump, the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously uphold the First Amendment rights of all Americans and restore the rule of law,” the spokesperson said. “The DOJ and FBI have a responsibility to investigate any potential violations of federal law, and conspiracies to impede federal law enforcement and assaults on federal officers are against the law.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!