A former FBI official slammed FBI Director Kash Patel on Friday for reportedly firing an agent trainee who displayed a gay pride flag on his desk.
âThis is insane on so many levels,â said Michael Feinberg, a former assistant special agent in charge, in an interview with MSNBCâs Nicolle Wallace.
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Patel â who notified the agent in training of his immediate termination in a letter dated Oct. 1 â cited the agent traineeâs âpoor judgementâ for placing âan inappropriate display of political signageâ on his desk while assigned to the Los Angeles field office under Joe Bidenâs administration, according to MSNBC.
The letter didnât explicitly refer to the pride flag. CNN was first to report the firing.
The agent trainee â a longtime employee with the FBI â was the recipient of multiple awards for service, was a field office diversity program coordinator and displayed a pride flag at his workstation, per CNN. Two agency veterans told the network that such a display doesnât violate the FBIâs past policies.
Wednesdayâs firing arrives less than a week after reports surfaced on the FBI terminating more than a dozen agents who were pictured kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest in Washington, D.C., following the murder of George Floyd.
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Trump â when asked by Real Americaâs Voice reporter Brian Glenn last month about âa lot of peopleâ feeling âthreatenedâ by the Progress Pride flag, which includes elements of the transgender flag â said he would have âno problemâ banning its display if the First Amendment didnât get in the way.
HuffPost has reached out to the FBI for comment.
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 17. Win McNamee via Getty Images
Feinberg, in his interview with Wallace, noted that there are considerations under the Hatch Act that prohibit certain types of âpolitical advocacyâ by federal employees. However, a pride flag âimplicates none of those.â
He added that every FBI field office and Justice Department building would fly the pride flag outside of their facilities in June when he worked for the FBI.
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âSo what this employee was doing was not at all out of line, out of the norm or at all inappropriate,â Feinberg said. âItâs absolute madness, and the fact that Kash Patel would go after this individual is lunacy.â
Feinberg claimed that the agent trainee â whom he didnât name â won an Attorney Generalâs Award, the DOJâs highest award for investigative or prosecutorial accomplishments.
Feinberg, who spent a portion of his career at the FBI in the same office as the agent trainee, said his old colleagues stressed the importance of the employeeâs involvement in the agency.
âThis erosion of constitutional protections and rule of law is getting so far out of hand that I donât understand why American citizens are putting up with it,â he said.
