Top New York FBI Agent Ousted After 'Defiant' Move

James Dennehy, the top FBI agent at the New York field office, announced Monday that he had been forced to retire, following a high-profile clash with the Trump administration last month. "Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision," Dennehy wrote in a message to colleagues, as reported by Ken Dilanian of NBC News. Dennehy upset Trump officials when he pushed back against orders to reveal the names of agents involved in investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, the New York Times reports.

Last month, in response to some of those agents being removed from their roles, Dennehy penned what multiple outlets including the New York Post are referring to as a "defiant" email urging colleagues to "dig in." "Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy," that email read. In his Monday message announcing his abrupt retirement, Dennehy wrote that he plans to continue defending the FBI from the outside. "We will not bend. We will not falter. We will not sacrifice what is right for anything or anyone," he wrote of the bureau. (More FBI stories.)