FBI's New York chief retires amid leadership shakeup under Kash Patel

UPDATED: Mar 4, 2025 23:03 IST

The FBI head of New York field office, who reportedly resisted Justice Department efforts to scrutinize agents involved in politically sensitive investigations, has retired after being directed to step down.

In a message to colleagues, James Dennehy said that he was told late Friday to put in his retirement papers but was not given a reason. The move comes in a period of upheaval at the bureau after new FBI director Kash Patel took office last month. The conservative podcaster and Trump loyalist Dan Bongino has been named to serve as deputy director.

The bureau is in turmoil over an unusual demand by the Justice Department for the FBI to turn over a list of the thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol. The January directive was seen by some in the bureau as a possible precursor to mass firings. Dennehy, a former Marine, was among those who resisted the order, vowing in a message he wrote to colleagues that he was prepared to “dig in,” according to news reports at the time.

Dennehy’s statement to colleagues

Dennehy, in his farewell message, reaffirmed his commitment to the FBI’s integrity.

“I’ve been told many times in my life, ‘When you find yourself in a hole, sometimes it’s best to quit digging.’ Screw that,” he wrote. “I will never stop defending this joint. I’ll just do it willingly and proudly from outside the wire.”

In a top 10 list of things he said he would miss about the FBI, he wrote: “The independence. We will not bend. We will not falter. We will not sacrifice what is right for anything or anyone.”

The FBI declined to comment and a spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately return a message seeking comment. NBC News first reported Dennehy’s ouster.

Controversy over Epstein Files

A recent conflict occurred last week when Attorney General Pam Bondi, without providing evidence, said she had learned from an unidentified source that the FBI office in New York remained in possession of thousands of documents related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein that were not disclosed. She ordered the FBI to hand over “the full and complete Epstein files” to her and directed Patel to “conduct an immediate investigation” into why her order to the FBI to turn over all documents was not followed.

Dennehy’s career and contributions

Dennehy was put in charge of the New York field office last September by then-FBI director Christopher Wray. He joined the FBI as a special agent working on counterintelligence in the New York field office in 2002. He transferred to FBI headquarters in Washington in 2015 and was made a section chief a year later. His other assignments included a stint as a chief of staff in the national security branch, special agent in charge of the counterintelligence and cyber division of the New York field office and special agent in charge of the Newark, New Jersey, field office.

(With input from Associated Press)