‘Disgraceful moment’: FBI fires official who was head of Las Vegas field office, attorney says

The FBI has terminated Spencer Evans, who ran the agency’s Las Vegas office, according to a post on X from a Washington, D.C.-based attorney.

Attorney Mark Zaid wrote in an X post Friday that Evans was “just summarily fired” without due process by FBI Director Kash Patel because he followed Justice Department COVID-19 policies. Zaid said his firm was representing Evans.

The FBI declined to comment.

“The purge of dedicated, patriotic FBI officials like Special Agent Evans is an absolute disgraceful moment in history,” Zaid said in a statement. “Director Patel’s reliance on how COVID protocols were implemented three years ago is an embarrassment, particularly since they were consistent with DOJ instructions. We intend to pursue every available legal remedy.”

Evans was named special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas office in 2022 and was one of the local law enforcement leaders who spoke to reporters after the Jan. 1 Cybertruck explosion at the Trump International.

NBC News reported in late January that multiple FBI officials promoted by former Director Christopher Wray were told to quit or be dismissed. Evans was one of the leaders singled out, according to the report.

An FBI spokesperson said in February that Jeremy Schwartz was the acting special agent in charge in Las Vegas. The same month, Evans appeared at a news conference and said nothing had changed.

“Despite some reporting in this regard, my employment situation with the FBI is the same as it was 21 years ago when I started,” he then said. “I remain the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Las Vegas division.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in July that Amir Ehsaei had taken over leadership of the office.

Zaid, whose firm is based in Washington, D.C., specializes in representing “former/current federal employees, intelligence and military officers, whistleblowers and others who have grievances or have been wronged by agencies of the United States Government or foreign governments,” according to his website.

In May, Zaid sued President Donald Trump’s administration after Trump stripped him of his security clearance.

Evans joined the FBI as an agent in 2004.

Before coming to Las Vegas, he served as deputy assistant director in human resources at FBI Headquarters.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X. The Associated Press contributed to this report.