James Dennehy, New York’s Top F.B.I. Agent, Forced Out After Defiant Email

The top agent at the F.B.I.’s New York field office said in an email Monday that he had been forced out of his job, following clashes with Justice Department officials over Trump administration directives.

The veteran agent, James E. Dennehy, was told Friday to retire from his role leading the F.B.I.’s largest field office, delivering another blow to the senior ranks of the bureau. Mr. Dennehy, who had been running the office since September, had angered Trump administration officials by supporting bureau leaders who resisted turning over the names of those who investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Mr. Dennehy had also angered Attorney General Pam Bondi by what she claimed was the New York office’s failure to turn over all the investigative files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier charged with sex trafficking who killed himself in prison. Ms. Bondi provided no evidence to back up her assertion.

“Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did,” Mr. Dennehy wrote Monday in an email to colleagues. “I was not given a reason for this decision. Regardless, I apologize to all of you for not being able to fulfill my commitment to you.”

Mr. Dennehy’s departure comes after weeks of turmoil at the F.B.I. that saw nearly a dozen executives at headquarters removed unexpectedly, leaving a leadership vacuum and confusion on the seventh floor of the Hoover Building in Washington, D.C.

It is not clear what role Kash Patel, the new director of the F.B.I., played in Mr. Dennehy’s ouster. But on Friday — the same day that Mr. Dennehy was told to leave — Mr. Patel produced a two-minute video that was sent to bureau employees. In it, he pledged support for his subordinates.