Judge Jeanine Pirro has stepped in to halt FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent wave of dismissals. According to sources cited by the New York Times, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., argued that letting go of four seasoned FBI agents would impede the progress of their active cases. This decision sets the stage for another clash between two individuals appointed by President Donald Trump to intensify crime-fighting efforts—Pirro, a former Fox News host now serving as a prosecutor in the nation’s capital, and Patel, the leading nationwide law enforcement official. This confrontation adds to a growing list of tensions within the administration.

Patel has also experienced disagreements with Attorney General Pam Bondi over handling high-profile matters such as the Jeffrey Epstein files. Additionally, disputes over immigration policy have arisen between Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Under the new administration, the FBI has faced scrutiny, with critics suggesting that Patel was installed to eliminate any perceived adversaries of Trump within the agency.

Recently, four agents who were part of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team investigating Trump were informed of their impending termination from the FBI. However, their dismissals seem to be on hold due to Pirro’s intervention. This incident marks the latest in Patel’s series of firings targeting agents involved in cases related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Reuters identified the agents as Jeremy Desor, Jamie Garman, Blaire Toleman, and David Geist.

Desor in particular was targeted in recent days on social media after Republican Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley publicized 1,000 pages of subpoenas from Smith’s investigation, which proved Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election. Toleman and Geist had their firings reversed after they were issued by Patel’s FBI, Reuters reported on Monday. And sources claimed that several other agents were fired Monday but had their terminations rescinded.

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment and the DOJ referred the Daily Mail to the US Attorney’s office for DC, which also did not immediately respond. Dozens of FBI agents, prosecutors and other personnel who worked on Smith’s investigation or handled cases involving in the January 6 attack have been fired from the Justice Department since Trump took office.

Grassley told Reuters that he is releasing information about agents working these cases because ‘the public has a right to know how the government’s spending their hard-earned tax dollars, and if agents were engaged in wrongdoing they ought to be held accountable.’ ‘Transparency brings accountability,’ he insisted.

Patel has already raged against the silence of ‘supposed allies’ after they did not rush to his defense amid allegations he improperly used a government jet to attend an event with his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins amid the government shutdown. Additionally, it’s been widely reported by the Daily Mail and other outlets that there are tensions between the leadership at FBI and the DOJ. It appears the latest action by Pirro could set up even more interagency showdowns.