David Maltinsky, a former FBI agent-in-training who said he was fired for a rainbow pride flag he had once hung near his desk, in New York, November 17, 2025. Ahmed Gaber/The New York Times/Redux

A veteran FBI employee training to become a special agent was fired last month for displaying at his workspace an LGBTQ+ flag, which had previously flown outside a field office, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court .

David Maltinsky had worked at the FBI for 16 years and was nearly finished with special agent training in Quantico, Virginia, when he was called into a meeting last month with FBI officials, given a letter from Director Kash Patel and told he was being “summarily dismissed” over the inappropriate display of political signage, Maltinsky’s lawsuit said.

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