FBI Director Patel Plans 25 Percent Cut to Bureau General Counsel and Continues Agent Purges

FBI Director Kash Patel has instructed General Counsel Samuel Ramer to cut Office of the General Counsel staff by roughly 25 percent, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg Law 1; the outlet reported that percentage is no longer treated as a firm target. OGC, which numbers several hundred lawyers advising bureau leadership, defending the FBI in litigation, and coordinating with DOJ prosecutors, has begun pushing staff toward early retirement and is weighing terminations 1. Ramer recently demoted his deputy overseeing the litigation branch, the official who worked with DOJ attorneys defending the bureau against lawsuits from agents fired under Patel 1. The FBI canceled offers for field-office lawyers detailed to headquarters and called off a national legal training conference on short notice, and Patel's team earlier pushed Ramer to fire an attorney at random, an instruction never carried out 12. FBI spokesman Ben Williamson denied any strain in the Patel-Ramer relationship, calling the cuts part of bureau-wide reorganizations not unique to OGC 13.