President Donald Trump is set to be challenged by a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official, whom he had ousted from the department in 2025. David Sundberg was removed by the Trump administration in January 2025 – a decision that came amid a broad purge of several other FBI officials.
In the case of Sundberg, he oversaw the primary investigations against Trump’s January 6 controversy and thus reportedly became the easiest target for the oust.
Fast forward to now, the former FBI employee is expected to announce his congressional bid for Maryland. A New York Times report claims that Sundberg has framed his candidacy as a response to abrupt political purges. He upholds the need for law enforcement integrity and accountability above all.
🚨🇺🇸FBI WASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE CHIEF FORCED OUT IN TRUMP-LED PURGE
David Sundberg, head of the FBI Washington Field Office, has been removed from his position, marking the highest-ranking field agent ousted in Trump’s sweeping FBI shakeup.
Sundberg oversaw Trump-related… https://t.co/zDkQ1042W5 pic.twitter.com/LSmw3OCdqH
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 31, 2025
Sundberg had been a member of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team and had more than two decades in federal law enforcement. He moved to Maryland’s 5th District in 2024. With his upcoming congressional bid, Sundberg has expressed a strong sense of duty to uphold the oath he had once taken at the very beginning of his career.
The 54-year-old made his intentions very clear at a recent interview as well. He explained, “I’m running to uphold the oath I took at the beginning of my career — an oath that didn’t change when the Trump administration forced me out of the federal government. During that career, I worked to ensure that no one was above the law. And over the last year, we’ve seen some terrible abuses against the people of the United States.”
After the Trump administration removed him, Sundberg said that he spent his time fruitfully. In contrast to the alleged unfair and illegal removal, he said that he helped several other officials like him who had met with a similar fate. There were other former employees who were made to resign in a similar manner.
Sundberg helped them connect with lawyers and essential services. These fallen officials needed to scrub the Internet of their personal details before rebuilding themselves with a clean slate. Most importantly, these officials were in dire need of security in the wake of the increased levels of political violence which reportedly loomed over them.
NBC Exclusive:
Donald Trump is escalating his purge of the FBI.
David Sundberg, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, has been notified that he’ll lose his job.
Sundberg headed the office as its agents participated in the Trump investigations.…
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 31, 2025
With his congressional bid moving forward, Sundberg happens to step into a risky and crowded zone. Joining the Democratic primary, he will become one of the many other candidates who are rooting for an open seat within a strongly Democratic district.
Meanwhile, Sundberg is not the only former federal law enforcement official who is running for office after being made to leave the government in 2025. There has been a growing number of these purged ex-federal employees who have now set their campaign strategies as revenge against Trump.
They are reportedly promoting their clashes and personal vendetta against the ruling administration and their objections to its use of their former agencies.
In his concluding statement to the press, Sundberg claimed that the voters had anger over Congress not properly putting a check on the presidential powers.
Defining why he is choosing to fight it out in the legislation, he said, “If I were still in the bureau, I would be fighting these battles from the inside to protect against the abuses of politicized federal law enforcement agencies. But since I can no longer protect the American people and uphold the Constitution as a law enforcement officer, I plan to do it as a legislator.”
