Ex-FBI official fired under Trump announces run for Congress in Maryland
Former top FBI official David Sundberg announced Monday that he plans to run for Congress this year in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District.
Sundberg is running for the seat vacated by incumbent Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., which he has held since winning a special election in 1981. The district covers southern Maryland and parts of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. Cook Political Report considers it a strong Democratic seat in this year’s midterm elections.
Sundberg, who joined the FBI in 2002, previously served as deputy director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office during the Biden administration and was informed in late January 2025, just days after President Donald Trump took office, that he would lose his job. His firing was one of a number of firings of senior FBI officials at the start of Trump’s second term.
“I’m running for Congress because I believe in the rule of law, not the rule of one man.” Sundberg said in a statement, apparently referring to Trump. “I have spent my life running into crises to protect this country – from my enlistment in the Air Force to my local detective service and my more than two decades of dedication to the mission of the FBI. I have spent my career defending our Constitution against threats abroad and at home. Now I am ready to take that same fight to Congress to protect our democracy from those who think they are above the law.”
In his statement Monday, Sundberg said he was forced out of the agency for doing his job and “refusing to allow politics to compromise justice.”
“I have seen the White House use the Justice Department as a weapon against its political opponents and use the National Guard to intimidate our own citizens, all while seizing the levers of power that are supposed to be balanced in government,” Sundberg said. He added: “I am running to ensure that Congress once again becomes an equal branch of government and does not abdicate its responsibility to fight back.” »
NBC News has reached out to the White House for comment on Sundberg’s announcement.
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray appointed Sundberg to head the Washington Field Office in December 2022. In this role, he oversaw 1,600 employees and directed FBI operations in Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. He was in charge of the investigation into the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the investigation into the homemade bombs planted near the headquarters of the Republican and Democratic parties on the night of January 5, 2021.
His other positions with the FBI allowed him to supervise counterterrorism operations, hostage rescue teams and SWAT operations.
