3 FBI agents fired after investigating Trump file class action suit alleging 'retribution campaign'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three fired FBI agents sued on Tuesday to try to get their jobs back, saying in a class action lawsuit that they were illegally punished for their participation in an investigation into President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

The federal lawsuit adds to the mounting list of court challenges to a personnel purge by FBI Director Kash Patel that over the last year has resulted in the ousters of dozens of agents, either because of their involvement in investigations related to Trump or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to the Republican president's agenda.

The lawsuit in federal court in Washington was technically filed on behalf of just three agents but may have much broader implications given that its request for class action status could open the door for agents fired since the start of the Trump administration to get their jobs back.

The three agents — Michelle Ball, Jamie Garman and Blaire Toleman — were fired last October and November in what they say was a “retribution campaign” targeting them for their work on the investigation into Trump. The agents had between eight and 14 years of “exemplary and unblemished” service in the FBI and expected to spend the remainder of their careers at the bureau but were abruptly fired without cause and without being given a chance to respond, the lawsuit says.

“Serving the American people as FBI agents was the highest honor of our lives,” they said in a statement. “We took an oath to uphold the Constitution, followed the facts wherever they led and never compromised our integrity. Our removal from federal service — without due process and based on a false perception of political bias — is a profound injustice that raises serious concerns about political interference in federal law enforcement.”

The investigation the agents worked on culminated in a 2023 indictment from special counsel Jack Smith that accused Trump of illegally scheming to undo the results of the presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. Smith ultimately abandoned that case, along with a separate one accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after Trump won back the White House in 2024, citing Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit the federal indictments of sitting presidents.

The lawsuit notes that the firings followed the release by Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, of documents about the election investigation — known as Arctic Frost — that he said had come from within the FBI. Those records included files showing that Smith's team had subpoenaed several days of phone records of some Republican lawmakers, an investigative step that angered Trump allies inside Congress.

The complaint names as defendants Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, accusing them of having orchestrated the firings despite being “personally embroiled” either as witnesses or attorneys in some of the legal troubles Trump has faced.

Patel, for instance, was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury investigating Trump's retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and had his phone records subpoenaed, while Bondi was part of the legal team that represented Trump at his first impeachment trial, which resulted in his acquittal.

“And now, by virtue of presidential appointment to the pinnacle of federal law enforcement, Defendants are abusing their positions to claim victories that eluded them on the merits,” the lawsuit states.

Spokespeople for the FBI and the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Patel and Bondi have said the fired agents and prosecutors who worked on Smith's team were responsible for weaponizing federal law enforcement, a claim that was also asserted in their termination letters but that the plaintiffs call defamatory and baseless.

Dan Eisenberg, a lawyer for the agents, said in a statement that his clients were fired without any investigation, notice of charges or chance to be heard.

“This lawsuit seeks to reaffirm fundamental constitutional protections for FBI employees, ensuring they can perform their duties without fear or favor. We all benefit when law enforcement officers' only loyalty is to facts and the truth,” said Eisenberg, who's with the firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP.

The lawsuit asks for the agents to be reinstated to their positions and for a court declaration affirming that their rights had been violated. It also seeks to represent a class of at least 50 agents who have been terminated since Jan. 20, 2025, or will be. Those agents also stand to recover their jobs in the event the case is successful and the requested class action status is granted.

Other fired employees who have sued include agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in 2020; an agent trainee who displayed an LGBTQ+ flag at his workspace; and a group of senior officials, including the former acting director of the FBI, who were terminated last summer.

The firings have continued, with Patel last month pushing out a group of agents in the Washington field office who had been involved in investigating Trump’s hoarding of classified documents. Trump has insisted he was entitled to keep the documents when he left the White House and has claimed without evidence he had declassified them.

Follow the AP's coverage of the FBI at https://apnews.com/hub/us-federal-bureau-of-investigation.

FBI Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Committee on Intelligence hearing to examine worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Attorney General Pam Bondi listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FBI Director Kash Patel, listens during a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence hearing to examine worldwide threats, Thursday, March 19, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi talk before President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable discussion on public safety at a Tennessee Air National Guard Base, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

FILE - The FBI seal is pictured in Omaha, Neb., Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

SAO PAULO (AP) — As the war in Iran rattles global oil markets, Brazil is partially shielded by a decades-old buffer against shocks that is both cheap and emits less pollution that causes climate change: Tens of millions of drivers here can choose between filling their tank with 100% sugarcane-based ethanol or a gasoline blend that contains 30% of biofuel.

Brazil’s massive dual-fuel fleet — consisting of vehicles capable of running on any combination of ethanol and gasoline — is unique in its scale. The program, launched in 1975 during the country's military dictatorship, has successfully evolved in democratic times to reduce dependency on foreign oil.

Today, as the latest conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel enters its fifth week, nations like India and Mexico are looking at the Brazilian model as a blueprint for energy security.

While consumers worldwide face steep price hikes, Brazilian gasoline prices rose just 5% in March — compared to 30% in the United States. Analysts partially credit the stability to a mature domestic biofuels industry that allows the country to withstand geopolitical shocks with minimal risk of fuel shortages.

“Brazil is much better prepared than most countries because it has a viable alternative of this nature,” said Evandro Gussi, president of the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, UNICA.

The timing is particularly fortunate as Brazil’s next sugarcane harvest, beginning in the first half of April, is expected to produce a record 30 billion liters of ethanol — 4 billion more than last year. “That increase alone is equivalent to the total amount of gasoline Brazil imported in all of last year,” Gussi noted.

Despite being a major producer and exporter of crude oil, Brazil still relies on imports to meet its domestic demand for refined fuels. The country currently sources petroleum from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and neighboring Guyana.

However, ethanol has become the backbone of the daily commute. In 2025, ethanol accounted for 37.1 billion liters of sales, according to state-run Energy Research Company. Though it slightly trails diesel and gasoline in total energy share, its presence at every gas station provides Brazilians with a psychological and economic safety net.

The success of Brazil's biofuels economy is rooted in the state of Sao Paulo, the country's industrial and agricultural powerhouse.

Production here is a mix of high-tech, export-oriented “mega-farms” and smaller family operations like farm Bom Retiro, founded in 1958, whose few dozen workers are now preparing to crop their 40-square-kilometer land (almost 10,000 acres).

Brazil's technology in biofuels is also fostered by years of state-sponsored research. One of them lies outside Sao Paulo, the Science Development Center for Ethanol at the Unicamp university in Campinas. Coordinator Luis Cortez says Brazil's program holds unique advantages unmatched by other nations.

“We have flexibility in ethanol production, in vehicle engines and from the federal government, which sets the percentage of ethanol in the fuel blend," said Cortez. “We have flexibility at three levels.”

Ultimately, he argues, that investment in research ends up making a difference at gas stations.

When burned, biofuels generally emit less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that heats the planet, compared to diesel, oil and gas. Whether biofuels are overall more sustainable is an open question, as land use changes and the methods needed to create them can cancel out any gains in reducing tailpipe and other emissions.

According to the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers, gasoline refined by the state-run Petrobras — which includes a biofuel blend — is currently 46% cheaper than imported fuel, or 1.16 Brazilian reals ($0.22) less per liter. Similarly, Petrobras diesel is priced at refineries at 63% below import levels.

While the closing of the Strait of Hormuz has not yet caused dramatic shifts in Brazil’s gasoline market, the country is struggling with rising diesel prices. This is because diesel is primarily made of imported crude oil and has a smaller percentage of biofuels.

Unlike the sugarcane-ethanol success story, Brazil’s biodiesel, which is mostly made from soybeans, only makes up 14% of the diesel blend. That figure might rise to the same 30% used in gasoline blends only by 2030, if research and technological developments allow, which means the conflict has brought immediate impact.

Brazil's diesel prices surged by more than 20% in March, prompting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to propose import subsidies through May. Government estimates show that the country has to buy between 20% and 30% of its diesel every month, most of it coming from Russia.

Brazil's authorities say the country imported almost 17 billion liters of diesel last year.

For the 80-year-old leader Lula seeking reelection this October, stabilizing diesel prices is critical to prevent truck driver strikes and keep food inflation in check.

Gussi, the president of UNICA, said that since the latest Iran war several heads of state have approached him to discuss Brazil’s biofuels industry. Among them is Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who said earlier this month she is interested in Petrobras’ technology in producing ethanol from agave, a very popular plant in her country.

“The best news, even in the midst of a situation like the one we are experiencing, is that this solution has a significant level of replicability,” Gussi said.

AP journalist Thiago Mostazo contributed to this report from Campinas.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

An aerial view of the Ester sugarcane and ethanol plant in Cosmopolis, Brazil, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Workers load a tractor during a seedling harvest on a sugarcane plantation at Bom Retiro Farm in Artur Nogueira, Brazil, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Tractors plant seedlings at Bom Retiro sugarcane farm in Artur Nogueira, Brazil, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Cars fuel up with ethanol at a gas station in Sao Paulo, Friday, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A tractor is loaded during a seedling harvest on a sugarcane plantation at Bom Retiro Farm in Artur Nogueira, Brazil, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)