James Dennehy’s retirement comes days after FBI chief Kash Patel was urged to investigate allegations that his New York office withheld some Epstein-related documents.
James Denneh, head of the FBI’s New York Field office, reportedly sent an email to staff on Monday to announce that he was asked to submit his retirement papers.
“I was informed today that I needed to put in the retirement paperwork that I just did that,” Denehi said in an email. “We were not given a reason for this decision.”
After writing a list of the top 10 things he said he would miss about the FBI, he wrote: I just do it with joy and proudness from outside the wire. ”
Dennehy served in the US Marines for seven years before joining the FBI as a special agent in 2002. Last September, then FBI director Christopher Ray was appointed assistant director for the New York Field office..
Senate Judicial Democrats criticised Dennehy’s forced retirement, and the Trump administration accused the bureau of weaponizing the bureau.
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Last month, the FBI’s Department of Justice (DOJ) directive urged the department on January 6, 2021 to provide the names of all personnel involved in investigating a Capitol violation.
The Epoch Times reached out to the FBI for comments and did not receive a response at the time of publication.
FBI Field Office Epstein File
Dennehy’s retirement email also came days after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi urged new FBI Director Kash Patel to begin an investigation into allegations that the FBI Field Office in New York withholds documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In a letter on February 27th, Bondi said that prior to Patel’s appointment, he had requested the bureau to provide all files related to Eipstein’s investigation.
She said she received a 200-page document consisting mainly of flight logs, a list of contacts and a list of victim names and phone numbers.
Bondi also said it received information that the New York field office did not own all of the documents and blamed the FBI on withholding files related to the investigation.
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the complete set of documents that corresponded to my request, and I was repeatedly assured by the FBI that I received the complete set of documents,” writes Bondi.
“Late yesterday I learned that the FBI Field Office in New York owns thousands of pages of documents relating to Epstein’s investigation and prosecution,” she said. “Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never revealed the existence of these files.”
Epstein was convicted in 2008 for procuring a minor in prostitution. He was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when it was found out he had died in a New York City prison in 2019. Authorities committed suicide in death.
Bondi instructed Patel to conduct an investigation into why the FBI failed to meet the request.
The Associated Press and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
