NBC News
· collected 2026-10-06 · by Ryan J. Reilly
The Trump administration pushed the FBI to investigate Los Angeles protesters in violation of their constitutional rights and the bureau’s policies, a former FBI supervisor alleges in a new whistleblower complaint.
asserted
supervisor → push → complaint
Jill Fields, a former supervisory intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, made a formal whistleblower complaint to Senate Judiciary Committee leaders over the federal response to anti-ICE protest activity around federal buildings, as well as in a residential area, early last year.
asserted
Fields → make → area
Fields asked Congress and the Justice Department’s watchdog to investigate the allegations, her attorneys said in a letter to lawmakers.
asserted
attorneys → ask → lawmakers
She says they violated the First Amendment right to free speech and to peaceably assemble.
asserted
they → say → speech
Fields says Emil Bove, then the acting deputy attorney general, told the head of the field office to open an investigation into activities outside the federal building even though, she says, the activities were protected free speech.
asserted
activities → say → speech
Separately, she says the White House gave a directive to FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate a group of protesters using megaphones during immigration enforcement operations after FBI agents had conducted a check into the conduct and declined to open an investigation.
asserted
agents → say → investigation
President Donald Trump had viewed a video of people using megaphones to alert residents about immigration activities, advise them of their legal rights and encourage them not to open their doors unless immigration enforcement agents had signed judicial warrants, according to the letter.
uncertain
agents → view → letter
A person whose name is redacted in the complaint told Fields that an investigation would be opened because “the President wants this investigation,” Fields’ whistleblower complaint says.
asserted
complaint → redact → investigation
The protests were staged across Los Angeles after the Trump administration launched an immigration enforcement operation.
asserted
administration → stag → operation
Fields said the FBI’s Los Angeles office had pulled agents off active cartel cases to satisfy what a supervisor described as “optics” designed to “make a show for the president.”
asserted
supervisor → say → president
The FBI and the Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
asserted
FBI → respond → comment
Justice Department officials have previously said government workers need to follow the Trump administration’s priorities.
asserted
workers → say → priorities
Last week, Justice Department leaders filed an administrative complaint about federal judges who made remarks to the media about the impact the surge in immigration enforcement had on their courtrooms.
asserted
surge → file → courtrooms
Fields says supervisors were told not to put things in writing, so many of the directives came in face-to-face meetings.
asserted
many → say → meetings
She says she didn’t know whether any formal investigation was opened because she was excluded once she refused to participate.
asserted
she → say → ?
Fields consulted with a senior FBI official in charge of privacy and civil liberties matters, who expressed dismay about the investigation and subsequently told Fields she planned to resign, according to the complaint.
uncertain
she → consult → complaint
Fields, too, resigned from the bureau, after she was informed that she would be removed from heading three programs, a decision she believes constituted retaliation for making protected internal disclosures.
asserted
she → resign → disclosures
The FBI’s actions, according to the letter, “created a chilling effect within the workforce” and “signaled to other employees that raising constitutional or legal concerns could carry professional consequences.”
uncertain
raising → accord → consequences
The conduct “had significant consequences for constitutional rights, and the integrity and effective operation of the FBI,” according to the complaint.
uncertain
conduct → have → complaint
Hundreds of FBI agents and Justice Department attorneys have resigned or been fired since Trump returned to office, particularly those who were involved in investigating him, and former Justice Department employees have expressed concerns that the nation’s top law enforcement agency is doing the bidding of the president.
asserted
agency → resign → president
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., told NBC News that Fields’ disclosure is another instance of Trump’s weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his perceived political enemies.
asserted
Trump → tell → enemies
Padilla, who himself was forcibly removed from a news conference featuring then-Homeland Security Kristi Noem in June 2025, is the ranking member of the Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, citizenship and border safety.
asserted
who → remove → immigration
“How many more of these investigations have been opened up because of political pressure coming from the White House, despite the questions and concerns about legality and constitutionality?” Padilla said.
asserted
Padilla → open → legality
He acknowledged that the Trump administration’s attacks on civil service protections through unilateral firings, as well as the mass firings of internal government watchdogs, had an impact on the legislative branch’s ability to conduct oversight.
asserted
attacks → acknowledge → oversight
“That’s going to be a significant challenge, but it begins with good, honorable professionals being willing to come forward and tell us what’s going on and what’s wrong with what’s going on,” Padilla said.
asserted
Padilla → go → us
“We’re hoping others may be inspired, as well.”
uncertain
others → hop → ?
Fields was represented by the nonprofit Government Accountability Project and David Laufman, a former top official in the Justice Department’s National Security Section.
asserted
Fields → represent → Section
The Aporia
