(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The FBI on Thursday fired Steve Friend, the agent who exposed the Biden administration’s persecution of some Jan. 6 defendants, following a brief reinstatement.
Friend’s ouster was first leaked to the New York Post, which contacted Friend the night before he was officially notified, according to journalist Steve Baker in a tweet reposted by Friend himself.
In a letter signed by FBI Director Kash Patel, Friend was informed that his public conduct after being reinstated to the FBI violated internal protocol.
The firing appears to have been triggered by a warning Friend gave during an interview with Kyle Seraphin about what he might do if he discovered evidence of a potential cover-up in the Jan. 6 pipe bomb investigation.
Some social media users interpreted his comments as a threat directed at Patel. In the interview, 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. You better pray to Gaia, Vishnu or whatever your maker is that ‘RealSteveFriend’ is never in a position to be an instrument of God’s wrath, because I will be merciful. I’ll allow you to breathe every breath that your body will have for the rest of its natural life inside of a box, and then when it ultimately fades to black, that’s when the real wrath begins.”
This rant by Steve Friend on Kyle Seraphin’s podcast is legitimately one of the most unhinged things I’ve ever seen. Can you imagine saying something like this about your boss publicly and NOT getting fired?
These men are not heroes or whistleblowers. They are here to undermine… https://t.co/bpEV2bgChN pic.twitter.com/gw62Z1SMdz
— Bx (@bx_on_x) December 13, 2025
Friend is known for telling Congress in 2023 that the Biden-era FBI used Jan. 6 cases to inflate domestic terrorism stats, and arrested individuals who never set foot inside the Capitol.
He had been indefinitely suspended over these earlier revelations to lawmakers and ultimately resigned because of the suspension.
In August 2025, Friend was part of a group of FBI agents who settled lawsuits with the Trump-led DOJ, which agreed to reinstate them, provide back pay and restore benefits.
Friend returned to the FBI payroll on Oct. 10, according to the Post, though he had not yet been reinstated to active duty pending a security clearance.
Friend reportedly had not received back pay following the settlement.
The firing came just days after Empower Oversight informed Friend that they were terminating their contract, citing his failure to adhere to the protocols expected of active FBI agents.
