A former FBI special agent who once worked out of the Daytona Beach resident agency has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Director Kash Patel of firing him for speaking publicly about the bureau's investigation into two pipe bombs found near the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Stephen Friend's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida's Orlando Division, says the December 2025 termination amounted to unconstitutional First Amendment retaliation.
Friend's 16-page complaint, filed October 1, targets Patel in his official capacity as FBI director, according to Tampa Free Press. The case is docketed as 6:2026cv02291 in the Middle District of Florida, per court records reviewed by Justia, which show Friend's filing came with a $405 filing fee along with a civil cover sheet and proposed summons. As reported by Yahoo News, the lawsuit alleges Friend was fired for “speaking publicly” as a private citizen about a federal investigation that had drawn widespread public debate.
A Career Marked by Two Firings
Friend joined the FBI in 2014 and first ran into trouble with the bureau in September 2022, when he says he was suspended amid alleged retaliation for protected whistleblower activity. He resigned in February 2023, a departure he has attributed to that retaliation, according to the same Tampa Free Press account. The Justice Department agreed in August 2025 to reinstate him, and the resulting settlement, dated August 26, 2025, restored him to a paid special agent role effective back to September 19, 2022 — the point at which his suspension began.
Friend returned to paid duty in September 2025, assigned to the Jacksonville Field Office's Daytona Beach resident agency, as Raw Story reported. But his reinstatement proved short-lived. When he reported to the Jacksonville division office on December 8 and December 9, 2025, his security-clearance background check was still incomplete — the same outlet's reporting notes he was kept under escort the entire time, with no gun, no computer access and no email account, performing no actual investigative work.
The Podcast Comments That Triggered His Firing
FBI supervisors handed Friend an immediate dismissal letter on December 13, 2025, though the letter itself was dated December 12 and signed by Patel. According to Tampa Free Press, the letter cited Friend's podcast appearances, media interactions and public commentary, characterizing his statements as unprofessional conduct and poor judgment. Those podcast appearances took place between October and December 2025, according to Law & Crime, which reported that the FBI's stated offenses included Friend's comments about ongoing investigations and his discussion of an early December 2025 arrest of a suspect in the pipe-bomb case.
At the center of the dispute is a December 5, 2025 podcast appearance in which Friend questioned publicly whether the FBI was withholding evidence and shared media materials identifying a suspect, per Tampa Free Press. During that appearance, Friend said, “May God have mercy on your soul, and I'm gonna end with this. I'm going to bring out my inner Commodus.” Friend argues the remark was taken out of context and that Patel falsely characterized it as a threat; his lawsuit maintains he spoke as a private citizen addressing matters of substantial public concern, not as an official FBI spokesperson, and that he participated in the public discussion in his personal capacity outside his assigned investigative duties, per Yahoo News.
What the Lawsuit Seeks
The lawsuit's sole count is a First Amendment retaliation claim. Friend is asking the court to declare his firing unconstitutional, set aside the removal, correct his personnel records, and reinstate him as a special agent at the Daytona Beach resident agency, or alternatively award front pay in lieu of reinstatement. He is also seeking back pay, restored benefits, interest and legal costs, along with an accounting and payment or restoration of other compensation and benefits he says he is legally due.
Money disputes have shadowed Friend's reinstatement from the start. He received a direct deposit of $163,674.40 on January 30, 2026, with no explanation of what it covered, according to Raw Story's account of the filing. Separately, Friend's lawsuit seeks an accounting and payment or restoration of compensation and benefits he says he is legally due. The FBI later issued an updated Standard Form 50 on February 10, 2026, designating Friend's departure as a formal removal, per Tampa Free Press. Friend is represented by attorneys Anthony F. Sabatini and Gavin B. Rollins of the Sabatini Law Firm, P.A., based in Mount Dora, Florida.
Part of a Broader Pattern of FBI Firings Under Patel
Friend's case is not the only legal challenge Patel has faced over personnel decisions. Three former senior FBI officials — Brian Driscoll Jr., Steven Jensen and Spencer Evans — sued Patel and the federal government for wrongful termination, according to The Guardian, asking a court to declare their firings illegal and award reinstatement and back pay. Their complaint alleges Patel told Driscoll he had been instructed by the White House to fire any agent who had worked on an investigation of Donald Trump.
Separately, a dozen former FBI agents sued the Trump administration in part on First Amendment grounds over firings tied to their kneeling during 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd, as reported by USA Today. Friend's lawsuit adds to a growing list of court fights testing how far the FBI director's authority over personnel decisions extends when agents speak out in public.
