FBI Director Kash Patel’s dramatic purge of three senior agency officials connected to Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations included a Marine combat veteran whose wife died of cancer last month.
Washington-based Special Agent Walter Giardina was ousted on Thursday along with former Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll and Assistant Director of the Washington Field Office Steven Jensen, the Associated Press reported.
An unauthenticated “official notice” posted on X by MSNBC correspondent Ken Dilanian appears to include Patel’s signature under scathing language accusing Giardina of “poor judgment” and a “lack of impartiality,” leading to the “political weaponization of the government.”
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It is unclear whether Driscoll and Jensen also received such letters. The Daily Beast has contacted the White House to confirm the authenticity of the letter addressed to Giardina.
The FBI declined to comment on the report in an email sent to The Daily Beast.
According to an online obituary, Giardina’s wife, Colleen, passed away from cancer in Fairfax, Virginia, on July 15 at age 49. A former professional ballet dancer and teacher, she is survived by her two sons with Giardina.
In a note included with a 2003 photo published by Getty that appears to show Giardina during his tour in Iraq, Giardina writes about missing Colleen.
“I can’t tell you how much I miss you. More than ever! I value our wonderful relationship. Just knowing that I have you gives me so much strength. I know you must be worried about me, so I took an opportunity to get this message out,” he wrote, per Getty. “Things are going really well for the battalion. We’ve accomplished all our objectives without anyone getting hurt.”
Politico reported that Giardina contributed to Robert Mueller’s 2016 investigation on Russian election interference, and he was also involved in Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro’s arrest after he refused to testify about the Jan. 6 riot before the House committee.
Meanwhile, Giardina, Driscoll, and Jensen’s firing appears to be a part of Patel’s reaffirmed commitment to use the FBI as an instrument of President Donald Trump’s bidding.
Driscoll has been in hot water since he refused to provide a list of the FBI agents who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations to Trump’s Department of Justice, with then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove accusing him of “insubordination,” Politico reported.
Jensen was ousted amid pressure from MAGA voices after Patel appointed him to his post just four months ago, according to The New York Times.
Patel has also agreed to use FBI resources to assist Texas law enforcement in apprehending the Democrats who fled the Lone Star State to prevent a vote on redistricting, an effort led by GOP Sen. John Cornyn.
Rubbing salt in the wounds, Navarro celebrated Giardina’s firing online, writing on X, “FBI’s Walter Giardina ran my circus arrest at Reagan Airport, slapped me in leg irons, lied to a grand jury, put me in prison—and tried to jail Trump in the Russia Hoax. I got prison. He got fired. Time to investigate his weaponized a--.”
