The head of the FBI's New York field office who was reported to have resisted Justice Department efforts to scrutinize agents who participated in politically sensitive investigations told coworkers on Monday that he has retired from the bureau after being directed to do so.
James Dennehy said in a message to colleagues obtained by The Associated Press that he was told late Friday to put in his retirement papers but was not given a reason. The move comes in a period of upheaval at the bureau as new FBI Director Kash Patel took office last month and as conservative podcast host and Trump loyalist Dan Bongino has been named to serve as deputy director.
The bureau also remains in turmoil over a highly unusual demand by the Justice Department for the FBI to turn over a list of the thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The directive was seen by some in the bureau as a possible precursor to mass firings. Dennehy, a retired Marine, was among those who resisted, vowing in a message he wrote to colleagues in January that he was prepared to “dig in,” according to news reports at the time.
