A top Justice Department official accused the FBI's acting leaders of “insubordination” in a Wednesday memo in which he sought to soothe anxiety inside the bureau over the potential for a broad purge of agents involved in investigating the Jan.

The acting deputy attorney general accused FBI leadership of “insubordination” by refusing to identify a “core team” of bureau employees who worked on January 6 investigations, while trying to assure that rank-and-file agents who “simply followed orders” will not be fired unless they “acted with corrupt or partisan intent,

Two separate groups of FBI employees sued the U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday, seeking to protect the identities of those agents and others who investigated supporters of Donald Trump for storming the U.

FBI agents who participated in investigations related to President Donald Trump have sued over Justice Department efforts to develop a list of employees involved in those inquiries that agents fear could be a precursor to discipline or termination.

A top Justice Department official on Wednesday told FBI agents they would not be fired if they worked on January 6 investigations because they were ordered to do so and accused FBI leaders of insubordination for initially opposing demands for agents' names.

In a class action suit filed on Tuesday, the agents said the information will be used to retaliate against them through firings or other actions.