Two veteran FBI agents in Virginia have been forced out of their jobs after information surfaced that revealed the agents are not supportive of President Donald Trump.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Spencer Evans and Stanley Meador, senior agents who ran FBI field offices in Las Vegas and Richmond, Virginia, came into the purview of conservatives. Evans was punished and Meador was forced out of his position. Michael Feinberg, a top deputy in the FBI’s Norfolk office, reportedly had ties to a former agent FBI Director Kash Patel identified as part of the deep state in his nonfiction book, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth and the Battle for Our Democracy.”
Feinberg’s statement regarding his decision to step down declared the agency in the wrong and that it had begun “to decay.” He said in his statement that he was threatened in late May with an investigation and possible demotion for his friendship with longtime counterintelligence agent and Trump critic Peter Strzok, who was fired in 2018.
“I was informed that, because I maintain a friendship with a former F.B.I. executive who is a critic and perceived enemy of the current administration, I would not be receiving any of the promotions for which I was currently being considered, and that I should actually steel myself to be demoted,” Feinberg said.
The FBI planned for Feinberg to take a polygraph and answer questions about his relationship with Strzok.
After 20 years with the FBI, Strzok was dismissed when he shared in text messages his opinion of Trump. Strzok oversaw investigations into Hillary Clinton‘s emails and the 2016 Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia. He sued the Justice Department and the FBI for violation of privacy because the text messages were shared with news media, and received $1.2 million.
Feinberg and Strzok worked together for many years in the counterintelligence division. Feinberg is expecting his first child and is not eligible for retirement.
In 2023, the Richmond office that Meador was in charge of issued a memo warning of possible threats that “radical-traditionalist” Catholics posed. The Justice Department performed an internal inquiry and found the memo unprofessional but lacking “evidence of malicious intent.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Charles E. Grassley, a Republican of Iowa, accused the FBI of anti-Catholic bias because of the memo and said he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Meador was placed on administrative leave and expected to retire.
As Deputy Assistant Director for Human Resources at FBI headquarters, Evans elicited anger from Trump supporters because he did not deny religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine. Although he survived an initial purge of FBI executives before Patel became director, Evans was informed by email that he would be fired. He kept his job somehow then and is now being forced to move to an FBI facility in Huntsville, Alabama. He is ineligible for retirement.
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark R. Warner of Virginia said Friday that he is “deeply concerned” by the reports of Meador’s and Evans’ removal.
“From day one, this administration has shown a willingness to undermine the integrity of our federal agencies in service of political loyalty. Virginians, and all Americans, deserve a Federal Bureau of Investigation that follows the facts and enforces the law without fear or favor, not one reshaped to serve the political whims of the president or his allies. These actions are unlikely to make us any safer,” Warner said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
