FBI special agent who opened Trump investigation reportedly escorted out of bureau

Former FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Thibault was reportedly escorted out of the bureau Friday, amid whistleblower allegations that he showed political bias in his handling of politically sensitive investigations.

The Washington Times reported eyewitness accounts that "Thibault was seen exiting the bureau’s elevator last Friday escorted by two or three 'headquarters-looking types.'"

On Tuesday, Thibault through attorneys addressed his departure and the bias accusations, saying he retired as planned and that politics never interfered with his FBI work.

"Claims to the contrary are false," he said in the statement.

The statement released through the law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP, which is representing Thibault pro bono, says Thibault played no part the bureau's Aug. 8 raid of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

On allegations Thibault was involved in the investigation of Hunter Biden's laptop, the carefully worded statement says he "did not supervise" the probe, was "not involved in any decisions related to the laptop" and "did not seek to close the investigation."

The original Time story was updated to state that Thibault "abruptly resigned" but that he was "forced to leave his post" and cites two unnamed former FBI officials.

CBS News reported Tuesday that two U.S. officials have confirmed that Thibault resigned and was escorted from the building.

"But these officials also said that Thibault had reached retirement age," reported the network's Catherine Herridge, "and they added that all of those who retire hand over their badge and gun and are escorted out of the building."

Just the News has not independently confirmed the Times and CBS reports.

Whistleblowers alleged that Thibault concealed the partisan nature of evidence from FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland to secure their approval to open an investigation into former President Donald Trump in 2020 unrelated to the raid, according to information made public by Sen. Charles Grassley.

Those whistleblower allegations have raised questions about the bureau as it also deals with the fallout of the raid on Trump's home earlier this month.

In that matter, the public release of the affidavit that accompanied the search warrant revealed the warrant application relied heavily on information from news articles, including a CBS Miami piece titled "Moving Trucks Spotted At Mar-a-Lago" and a Breitbart News article in which former Trump adviser Kash Patel discussed the classified status of documents the bureau previously removed from the estate on behalf of the National Archives.

Grassley confirmed to Just the News prior to the raid that Thibault had been removed from his post and reassigned to an unspecified position.

The FBI declined to comment on the matter.