WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered a brief pause on any public release of the identifies of FBI employees who worked on probes into the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Donald Trump supporters following a legal challenge by a group of FBI agents.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington said the order would last until a court hearing resumes on Friday morning.
“If this information were released, I think there’s no question it would put a number of FBI agents at significant and immediate danger,” Cobb said.
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Two groups of anonymous FBI agents sued the Justice Department on Tuesday to block the potential release of the names of FBI employees. The lawsuits came after a top official appointed by President Trump sought a list of all FBI employees who worked on Capitol riot cases, for what he later described as an internal review of potential misconduct.
Cobb’s order came following a daylong hearing during which the Justice Department and lawyers for the agents unsuccessfully sought to strike a temporary agreement.
A Justice Department lawyer said there was no immediate plan to release the information, but the talks hit a snag over whether the agreement would also prevent the Trump White House and Elon Musk’s team focused on cutting the federal workforce from accessing or releasing the information.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
