Trump’s Disgraceful FBI Purge Continues

Summary

Bulwark Takes: Trump’s Disgraceful FBI Purge Continues

Release Date: August 7, 2025
Host: Tim Miller & Evan
Podcast: The Bulwark

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Overview

In this intense episode of Bulwark Takes, hosts Tim Miller and Evan delve deep into the ongoing turmoil within the FBI, highlighting what they describe as a disgraceful purge orchestrated under the Trump administration. The discussion centers around the forced removal of career FBI agents involved in the January 6th investigations, the personal toll on those affected, and the broader implications for the integrity of the bureau.

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Leadership Changes and Forced Removals

The episode opens with Evan expressing his frustration over the recent developments within the FBI, particularly focusing on the abrupt ousting of Brian Driscoll as acting FBI director.

• Brian Driscoll’s Appointment and Forced Departure:
  • Evan (01:02): "Brian Driscoll, who's known as Drizz internally, was just thrust into this role as acting FBI director after Chris Ray resigned like a coward after Trump won the election."
  • Tim Miller (02:10): "These are people that put themselves on the line to protect the country. These are patriots."

Driscoll, respected within the bureau for his non-political stance and dedication to national security, faced immense pressure to eliminate FBI agents associated with the January 6th investigations. His refusal to comply led to his forced removal by FBI Director Kash Patel.

• Unconstitutional Demands:
  • Evan (01:28): "People at DOJ and elsewhere demanded he fire everybody at the FBI involved in any of the January 6th investigations."
  • Tim Miller (02:42): "The idea that you would arbitrarily push people out just based on their political views is insane."

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Personal and Professional Fallout

The hosts shed light on the personal hardships faced by those being purged, emphasizing the lack of eligibility for retirement benefits and the emotional strain on agents like Walter Jardina.

• Impact on Walter Jardina:
  • Evan (03:23): "Mr. Jardina's wife died last month of cancer... you were firing him because he did his job."
  • Tim Miller (03:42): "On top of it, Mr. Jardina's wife died last month of cancer."

Jardina, who played a pivotal role in investigating officials from the first Trump administration, including Peter Navarro, was removed from his position despite his commendable service.

• Consequences on Retirement:
  • Tim Miller (03:28): "Neither Mr. Driscoll nor Mr. Giardina is eligible to retire."
  • Evan (03:42): "Firing is going to have negative consequences on their retirement benefits."

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Targeting of FBI Agents for Personal Associations

A significant portion of the episode discusses the case of Mike Feinberg, an FBI agent targeted for his personal friendship with Pete Strzok, illustrating the administration's overreach into the personal lives of agents.

• Mike Feinberg’s Experience:
  • Evan (05:28): "Let’s just play a little clip from Mike Feinberg explaining what happened to him."
  • Mike Feinberg (06:27): "I have remained friends and remained in contact with Pete Strzok since he left the Bureau... our friendship kicked off when we discovered we were both huge Smiths fans."

Feinberg recounts being pressured into a polygraph test and facing career setbacks solely based on his harmless personal friendships.

• Pressure and Retaliation:
  • Evan (09:16): "He wasn't even working on any of this. He was a fucking China expert."
  • Tim Miller (09:39): "Do you feel safer now, America, that a fucking podcaster is the deputy director of the FBI..."

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Broader Implications for the FBI and National Security

Tim and Evan argue that these purges are not only unjust but also detrimental to national security. By removing experienced agents and replacing them with individuals lacking the necessary expertise, the FBI's ability to function effectively is severely compromised.

• Erosion of Trust and Morale:
  • Evan (10:36): "I don't feel safer... this is not how you run an organization."
  • Tim Miller (11:04): "Good FBI agents are looking at all this... I'm out of here when I can get."

The hosts emphasize that such actions instill fear and uncertainty among remaining agents, potentially leading to further attrition and a weakened investigative body.

• Introduction of Politically Motivated Appointees:
  • Tim Miller (10:09): "We're getting rid of experienced people to put in podcasters. Do you feel safer now?"
  • Evan (11:12): "They're willing to act in corrupt manners... it is sick what's happening at the FBI."

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Conclusion and Call to Action

Wrapping up the episode, Tim and Evan reiterate their concerns about the Trump administration's interference in the FBI, calling for listeners to stay informed and engaged.

• Evan (11:38): "Subscribe to the feed... I'll be talking to you soon."
• Tim Miller (11:39): "Subscribe to the feed."

They hint at upcoming discussions, including interviews with individuals directly affected by these purges, ensuring that the conversation around these critical issues continues to gain traction.

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Notable Quotes

• Evan (01:37): "They think that you're backing the blue, but you end up having the back of FBI agents whose job it is to investigate crime and public corruption."
• Tim Miller (02:47): "The idea that you would arbitrarily push people out just based on their political views is insane."
• Mike Feinberg (07:25): "Patel and Bongino really do believe that there is some sort of deep state conspiracy... which is just, quite frankly, not true."
• Tim Miller (09:39): "Do you feel safer now, America, that a fucking podcaster is the deputy director of the FBI?"

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Bulwark Takes serves as a stark warning about the erosion of institutional integrity within the FBI under political pressure. Through detailed accounts and passionate discussions, Tim Miller and Evan present a compelling case against the current administration's actions, urging listeners to recognize and respond to these unprecedented challenges facing one of the nation's key security agencies.

Transcript

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[Tim Miller]

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[Alex]

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[Tim Miller]

Hey, everybody. Tim Miller from the Bulwark here.

[Evan]

I wanted to rant a little bit more about the absolutely unconscionable firings at the FBI today as reported by the New York Times. I talked about this a little bit with Ann Applebaum in the podcast, but I got some more to get off my chest. The news, in case you've missed it, is Brian Driscoll, who's known as the Drizz internally, or Drizz Internally, was just thrust into this role as acting FBI director after Chris Ray resigned like a coward after Trump won the election. And so Drizz gets this job as acting FBI director. Very respected inside the bureau. I've talked to a bunch of FBI agents about him. Not political, just kind of like a guy that just is there to do the job of protecting the country. A real public servant. He gets a job of FBI acting.

[Tim Miller]

Director, and he gets these demands from.

[Evan]

People at DOJ and elsewhere to fire everybody at the FBI that was involved in any of the January 6th investigations.

[Tim Miller]

And he refused to do it.

[Evan]

And at the time, there was a.

[Tim Miller]

Lot of concern that he was going to be pushed out, and he wasn't.

[Evan]

And he was pushed out as of today, forced out by FBI Director Kash Patel. He was forced out alongside Walter Jardina, who was one of the agents that was investigating officials from the first Trump administration, including working on the case that sent Peter Navarro to jail. So I want to talk about how outrageous this is.

[Tim Miller]

There've been a bunch of examples.

[Evan]

We talked about the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, and Trump's been doing this all over the government.

[Tim Miller]

When it comes to the FBI, these are people that. That put themselves on the line to protect the country. These are patriots. These are people that if you back the blue, you would think that you would have the back of FBI agents whose job it is to investigate crime, investigate public corruption, investigate people that are working against the country in various ways.

[Evan]

Investigating people that are trying to undermine.

[Tim Miller]

The safety of Americans. And the idea that you would arbitrarily.

[Evan]

Push people out just based on their.

[Tim Miller]

Political views is insane. And in the case of Driz, he didn't even have, like, he wasn't even involved in any of this. It was just an accident of luck that he got put into the acting role and was given an unconstitutional, totally inappropriate demand from the. From the incoming Trump administration. I said he wasn't going to do it. You got to put in your own FBI director.

[Evan]

They can decide what to do.

[Tim Miller]

So Drez didn't even do anything. But I want to get back to Driscoll. I want to talk just to demonstrate.

[Evan]

How fucking heartless and horrible these people are.

[Tim Miller]

I want to point you to one.

[Evan]

Part of the story about Giardina. Here's this paragraph from the times story.

[Tim Miller]

Neither Mr. Driscoll nor Mr. Giardina is eligible to retire.

[Evan]

Firing is going to have negative consequences on their retirement benefits that they would get. And how about this?

[Tim Miller]

On top of it, Mr. Jardina's wife died last month of cancer.

[Evan]

An FBI spokeswoman where Mr. Jardina worked declined to comment.

[Tim Miller]

Dude's wife died of cancer last month. And you were firing him because he did his job. You're firing him without eligibility for retirement benefits. And you think that you're the ones that back the blue. This is just nasty stuff. Nasty stuff. At least in the case of Mr. Jardine. Again, this is not rational. This is not appropriate. It doesn't have historical precedent. The idea that an incoming administration would clear out rank and file FBI agents because of their involvement in past investigations that the new administration didn't like. Not the top people, not the political people, but just the agents, investigators, that has no precedent. But in the case of Brian Driscoll, he wasn't even involved in any of that. Brian Driscoll was just thrust into the role of taking over this job, of running this bureau, while all the real Housewives of Maga and Christopher Wray and Cash Patel and DiMagino and Donald Trump figured out their little catfight about who was going to run the FBI. This dude was just like, I'm standing in to do the job. He had huge support from inside the Bureau. He was a career FBI agent, somebody that had actual experience in this.

[Evan]

In this space. Unlike Cash Patel, unlike Dan Bongino, he.

[Tim Miller]

Gets given this absurd demand that he.

[Evan]

Like, fires his colleagues, not for cause, but because, you know, they happen to be involved in some investigation.

[Tim Miller]

And now, months later, he's retaliated against. Are you awake, maga? Are you awake? Is this what you want? You want the administration? You Want Kash Patel and Dan Bongino firing people that are here to protect us just because their presence is inconvenient. Because they don't, you know, because they didn't want to participate in the politicization of the Bureau. We talked to Mike Feinberg about this.

[Evan]

A couple weeks ago, who is in the Bureau. His story is also absurd. If you, if you missed that. Let's just play a little clip from Mike Feinford explaining what happened to him.

[Mike Feinberg]

I was at the office on a Saturday and I get a call from my special agent in charge who tells me that it has come to the attention of the Deputy Director, as she called him, that I.

[Evan]

Deputy Dan, we call it.

[Mike Feinberg]

It's come to his attention that I have remained friends and remained in contact with Pete Strzok since he left the Bureau. And there's nothing false in that. It's absolutely true. You know, he and his wife were a guest at my wedding. We hang out quite a bit. We talk all the time, as I said in the piece, largely about the food scene in various cities and mostly about different bands. You know, our. Our friendship kicked off when we discovered we were both huge Smiths fans. It's not exactly the stuff of a deep state conspiracy, more just us.

[Evan]

I don't know. Morrissey has been getting pretty kooky these days, so you never know.

[Mike Feinberg]

Yeah, he's problematic, let's put it that way. But yeah, so. So I admitted to being friends with Pete and there were a series of more phone calls about it. And basically, basically by the end of the day, once I had sort of regained my self composure because it was very clear to me that my career was. My life really was about to change drastically as a result of having a target on my back for Bongino and Patel. I was explicitly told by my special agent in charge that my career was functionally over. I was not going to get a promotion for which I was in. I needed to prepare for the fact that I would in all likelihood be demoted. And I also needed to reconcile myself to the fact that I would be called up to D.C. in order to submit to a polygraph about the nature of my friendship with Pete, whatever that means.

[Tim Miller]

They explicitly said that to you? You're going to have to go take.

[Evan]

A polygraph test like you're in. Meet the parents. Yeah. Talk about whether you and Pete were. What I don't like. What would even have been.

[Mike Feinberg]

As near as I can tell, Patel and Bongino really do believe that there is some sort of deep state conspiracy like Something out of a Chesterton novel.

[Evan]

That I don't think either of them have read any Chesterton.

[Mike Feinberg]

More like, I'm actually making a point to drop in as many cultural references they would not understand new idea as possible. But yeah, I think they really do believe that there is some sort of organized deep state resistance to the Trump agenda, which is just, quite frankly, not true.

[Tim Miller]

So in his case, he wasn't pushed.

[Evan]

Out like Giardina and Driscoll, but he's told he wasn't going to get a promotion.

[Tim Miller]

You know, he was going to be hassled.

[Evan]

He's going to have to go take.

[Tim Miller]

A lie detector test.

[Evan]

He's going to have to go kiss the ring of Deputy Dan, the former podcast former security guard turned deputy FBI director.

[Tim Miller]

And so he resigns. So he leaves. And what was his crime? Going to a concert with Pete Strugg? That was his crime. He wasn't even. He wasn't even working on any of this. He was a fucking China expert. So we're kicking out the China expert. We're kicking out the guy that has.

[Evan]

The respect of his fellow agents that stepped up when Chris Ray, you know, wilted and tucked his tail and ran.

[Tim Miller]

We're find the guy that's cancer.

[Evan]

That's wife just died of cancer.

[Tim Miller]

These are the people that we're getting rid of in the government to put in podcasters. Do you feel safer now? Do you feel safer now, America, that a fucking podcaster is the deputy director of the FBI and experienced people with expertise on China and how the agency runs and how investigations run are being scuttled because Cash Patel is such a small man that he can't have them around.

[Evan]

I don't, I don't. I don't feel safer. And I also don't feel like this is an appropriate way to treat people. That's not how you run an organization. If you want to get loyalty.

[Tim Miller]

And what it's going to do here, what it's doing. And it's not just, not just me guessing, I'm hearing this from people. What this means is that good FBI agents are looking at all this. They're looking at the way that they're treating Drizz, they're looking at the way they treated Feinberg, and they're saying, I'm.

[Evan]

Out of here when I can get.

[Tim Miller]

Out of here, you know, whenever I'm.

[Evan]

Eligible for retirement, whenever I'm out when, when, if I have another opportunity, I'm out of here.

[Tim Miller]

And you're going to be bringing in.

[Evan]

People that are willing to act in corrupt manner. They're willing to say whatever you want. They're willing to tell you lies instead of truths because they know that'll make Donald Trump and Cash Patel happy. It is sick what's happening at the FBI, and it's deeply concerning. All right. I told you I had a little more I had to get off my chest on this one.

[Tim Miller]

Subscribe to the feed.

[Evan]

I got more. More coming on this. What's happening in this administration from a staffing standpoint is, you know, it's going to boggle your mind, and it is just heinous. And I'm going to be talking to One of the January 6th officers, friend of mine about a man that wanted to kill him getting a role at the doj. So subscribe to the feed, stick around, make sure you know that that video's coming, and we'll be talking to you soon.