A longtime employee of the Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit following his dismissal, which came after a covertly captured video of him voicing criticisms of the Trump administration surfaced online. The former employee, Joseph Schnitt, claims his termination infringed upon his right to free speech.

Joseph Schnitt, who dedicated over 23 years to the DOJ, was terminated in September after a video emerged showing him speculating about the “Epstein files.” In a detailed 23-page lawsuit submitted on Monday, Schnitt argued that the DOJ and Attorney General Pam Bondi unjustly “retaliated against” him for engaging in “quintessential protected speech,” and contends that he was “unlawfully removed from federal service” solely due to this speech.

In a twist of events beginning in July, Schnitt encountered a woman who went by the name “Skylar” on the popular dating app Hinge. Over the course of their online interactions, they arranged to meet in person, leading to an in-person date on August 4 at a restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.

What Schnitt did not realize was that “Skylar” was secretly recording their entire conversation.

During their 60- to 90-minute dinner, “Skylar” inquired about topics related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as the government’s intentions to disclose files concerning the investigation of the convicted sex offenders. Schnitt’s comments suggested that the Trump administration might selectively shield certain individuals while exposing others.

“They’ll redact every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal Democratic people in those files,” the then-DOJ employee said in the video posted online in September by self-proclaimed “Guerrilla Journalist” James O’Keefe. Schnitt also suggested that Maxwell’s transfer to a minimum-security prison was the DOJ “offering her something to keep her mouth shut.”

According to the lawsuit, Schnitt’s dating profile did not disclose his occupation, let alone state that he was a DOJ official and acting deputy chief for the Federal Witness Security Program. Rather, under the employment tab, his profile said: “case analyst at government.”

However, in the 8-minute video posted by O’Keefe, Schnitt can be heard stating he is a long-tenured official at the DOJ. Schnitt and the woman met for one additional date, but he “steered the conversation” away from Epstein, and no moments from that date are included in the video.

About a month after the first date and hours before the video was posted online, Schnitt received a text message asking if he had any comment about specific quotes taken during a “hidden camera interview with an undercover reporter.” As he began to realize what was happening, he went to his supervisor, who encouraged him to email the acting director of the DOJ’s Office of Enforcement Operations.

He did so, stating that his comments “were strictly his own personal opinion and only based on what he had learned in the media,” not due to “any official information.” According to the lawsuit, it was “his understanding and expectation that the e-mail would be for internal use by his leadership only.”

That was not the case, as hardly an hour after the video was posted, the DOJ posted Schnitt’s explanation on its official X account. The following day, on Sept. 5, he was fired “based on your publicly inappropriate comments that were detrimental to the interests of the Department.”

According to Schnitt and his attorney Mark Zaid, this termination was unlawful for several reasons. Primarily, they hold that it violates his constitutionally protected freedom of speech.

“Mr. Schnitt’s protected speech did not take place in a Government facility, use Government equipment, or rely upon Government systems or databases. It did not consist of any information Mr. Schnitt learned during the course of his official duties,” the lawsuit reads. “His protected speech consisted exclusively of open source, publicly available information reported in the news media, as well as his own personal opinions on matters of public concern.”

Schnitt continued by referring to the DOJ’s public repurposing of his email explanation, saying, “[t]he Defendants publicly confirmed that Mr. Schnitt had no official knowledge about the case and that his comments were made in his personal capacity only.”

The former DOJ worker added that his protected speech was the entire basis for his termination and that the Trump administration “did nothing to determine whether Mr. Schnitt’s protected speech had actually caused any kind of disruption or hampered his ability to perform his employment responsibilities.”

Schnitt argued he was denied due process, saying “no opportunity was ever provided to Mr. Schnitt to respond” to his termination. He filed an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board — the agency tasked with overseeing federal employee personnel actions — on Nov. 16, but “no actions have yet occurred.”

Schnitt maintains that he was the victim of a “complete set-up” by the woman, who the lawsuit identified as Dominique Phillips, a woman previously tied to conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA.

He is asking to be immediately reinstated to his position, for the Trump administration to declare his termination “was in retaliation” for his protected speech, and for him to be awarded back pay.

The “Epstein files” have been a source of controversy for the administration, with the president, Bondi, and other officials taking heat for not releasing all of the documents related to the disgraced financier.

The DOJ had no comment when contacted by Law&Crime.