The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s top official in New York was forced to resign on Monday, stating he was not given any reason for the decision by Washington, DC. The resignation comes after the Department of Justice accused his office of hiding documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case last week.
James Dennehy, a Marine Corps veteran who joined the FBI following the September 11 attacks, informed colleagues at the agency’s New York Field Office of his departure in a resignation letter.
“Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision,” Dennehy wrote in the message, which was obtained by ABC News and other media outlets.
In the letter, he expressed regret over the sudden nature of his resignation and praised his coworkers as “an office of professionals who will always do the right thing for the right reasons.”
His exit is the latest in a series of departures from the FBI since the Trump administration took over the White House.
Dennehy had previously clashed with Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. Last month, he sent an email to FBI staff voicing support for officials who had been removed from investigations related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
“Today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy,” the email stated.
The release of the Epstein Files did not go as planned last week, as instead of a press conference summarizing key findings, the White House distributed binders to select influencers and independent media figures. These individuals were instructed not to promote the release and were unable to share the contents immediately due to an embargo.
As a result, much of the public and media spent the day speculating about the contents before information was gradually posted online. The documents released had largely been made public in previous disclosures.
The rollout sparked criticism against those who received the binders, as well as the Attorney General’s office and the FBI.
The House Judiciary GOP posted a misleading link claiming to provide access to the files, which instead directed users to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who previously announced the release, later revealed that the FBI’s Southern District of New York office had withheld thousands of documents despite her request for all Epstein-related materials.
The letter from Bondi was addressed to Patel and said that she had, prior to his confirmation to that position, “requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein.” She received 200 pages of flight logs, contcts, and victims names and phone numbers. She told Patel that she “repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to her request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents.”
She then revealed that on Wednesday, she “learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein” and that the existence of these files was not disclosed to her nor were they delivered. She demanded that Patel ensure the delivery of all of these documents to her office by Friday morning, “including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardness of how such information was obtained.”
