An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., on Jan. 16, 2025. An association of thousands of FBI agents and other groups are backing a lawsuit filed by three bureau employees who were fired last year for their roles in an investigation into President Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. A legal brief by the FBI Agents Assn. FBI Special Agents have long understood that they are subject to assignment and reassignment at any time based on the needs of the Bureau,” the agents association, which serves nearly 12,000 members, wrote in its brief. A brief filed by former senior Justice Department officials says the firings have undermined a “half-century of independence as a guiding principle.”