A federal judge agreed Thursday to the Trump administration’s request to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to prevent the revelation of the names of thousands of FBI agents who worked on Jan. 6 investigations.

U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, appointed by former President Joe Biden, showed compassion for agents who went to court seeking constraints on the Trump administration after the Justice Department wanted a list of everyone who had done investigative work on rioters’ cases.

“Plaintiffs filed these cases in a whirlwind of chaos and fear,” Cobb wrote, adding that “some former January 6 defendants, now pardoned and at large, called for FBI agents to be doxed (or worse).”

“Since then, the dust has settled some—and this case has evolved,” Cobb continued.

FBI agents have been in court since February, filing the action immediately after eight senior career FBI officers were fired, and Principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who has been nominated for a lifetime appointment to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, requested the list.

However, Cobb decided that the Justice Department does not appear to be prepared to act on agents’ concerns that a list would be used not just to terminate agents, but also to publicly expose their names as a form of retaliation.

“The Court ordered expedited jurisdictional discovery to cut through the chaos and allow Plaintiffs to shore up their standing allegations,” Cobb wrote.

“That discovery revealed no evidence that Defendants are on the verge of disclosing Plaintiffs’ identities, nor have Plaintiffs plausibly alleged that such a disclosure is imminent. The Court must therefore dismiss Plaintiffs’ disclosure-related claims.”

Attorneys for the FBI Agents Association indicated they were prepared to go back to court if the government did not keep its promise.

Bove has not denied that the list would be used to review the work of the thousands of agents involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot cases, and he has not ruled out the possibility of some being dismissed. Agents were also requested to complete a questionnaire detailing their involvement in the extensive inquiry.

“We are proud to defend the FBI employees who bravely investigated the January 6th attacks. The Court acknowledged that the disclosure of agents’ names would endanger them and accepted the Government’s claims that it would not do so. We stand ready to return to Court immediately if the Government does not live up to its obligations,” attorneys Margaret Donovan and Chris Mattei said in a statement.

“No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove wrote shortly after requesting the list.

Last week, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino made headlines that the bureau dismantled a major Chinese espionage operation inside the United States, including agents who were actively working to recruit American service members into betraying their country.

In a statement posted to X, Bongino said the FBI executed eight search warrants and made two arrests in San Francisco, Houston, Portland, and San Diego as part of the operation. He described the spy ring as “sophisticated” and directly tied to the Chinese government.

“This is your FBI, and you deserve to know about the work we’re doing every day to keep our country and citizens safe,” Bongino said.

The takedown follows a series of cases earlier this year in which U.S. Army soldiers were caught passing sensitive information to the People’s Republic of China in what Bongino called “treason-adjacent espionage.”

According to the FBI, the foreign agents were attempting to steal U.S. defense secrets and advanced technologies, including missile and drone capabilities, while also conducting surveillance and intimidation campaigns on U.S. soil.

Since January 2025, the FBI has arrested 51 foreign intelligence agents from nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Charges range from economic espionage and sanctions evasion to stealing classified information and smuggling biological materials.

Bongino said the bureau has nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence cases, with more than 800 new cases opened this year alone.