DOJ’s counterterrorism chief hasn’t been on the job for 6 months

A report in the Washington Post reported Friday described the government purge at the FBI and Justice Department, noting the loss of decades of experience and has left some key positions either unfilled or otherwise occupied. And according to the Post, President Donald Trump's administration might be woefully unprepared for the fallout.

For the past six months, Matthew Blue, the chief of the Justice Department’s counterterrorism section, has been deployed to "protect" Washington, D.C. Trump called in the D.C. National Guard to handle "out of control" crime in the city. While many have been deployed elsewhere, Blue remains on duty and not at the Justice Department.

About three days before the bombing campaign began in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel fired the agents who "specialized in addressing threats from Iran and its proxies."

Speaking with current and former officials familiar with the firings, the Post reported that there are still some skilled leaders in top posts, but the "bench of expertise has significantly thinned," particularly among those with a history of handling domestic threats.

The report explained that when the U.S. goes to war or engages in a conflict elsewhere, domestic law enforcement keeps its ear to the ground about possible threats at home out of fear that terrorist groups abroad can trigger anyone who might be in the U.S. But now, those prosecutors and agents are scarce.

One ex-prosecutor who refused to give his name was fired out of the blue despite working on the surveillance of a man the FBI feared may have been plotting a violent attack. Patel reassigned the FBI agents to focus on immigration instead.

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told the Post that anyone who they fired were found to have "acted unethically" either on the Jan. 6 investigations or with probes into Trump.

“While we do not comment on personnel matters, the FBI maintains a robust counterintelligence operation, with personnel all over the country, who delivered record results in 2025 — including a 35 percent increase in counterintelligence arrests, six of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives captured, and multiple foiled terrorism plots just in December alone,” Williamson said in a statement. “Our teams remain fully engaged across the country and prepared to mobilize any security assets needed to assist federal partners — as well as state and local law enforcement."

But one former and longtime senior national security official warned, “We are now in a heightened-threat situation, not just in the Mideast but also here in the U.S. Iran, acting through its proxies, has long sought to carry out a terrorist attack or assassination inside the country."

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