Patty Hartman began her public service career as a member of the fourth estate 37 years ago as a news radio reporter in Wilmington, Delaware. In July 2007, after nearly twenty years in radio and TV journalism, Patty was drawn to federal service by her love of the law. She spent the next 18 years serving in various public affairs roles with the Department of Justice before being fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi on July 7, 2025.
Between 2019 and 2021, Patty worked as a public affairs specialist at the FBI Newark Field Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Since late 2022, Patty oversaw media engagement with the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which included the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, and press releases related to the 1,500 domestic terrorists who attacked the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
Within days of the beginning of the second Trump Administration, Patty's duties changed drastically, and she spent most of the next four months feeling alienated by her leadership. By May, Patty had observed a morale shift following the obliteration of the separation between the White House and DOJ, but a change in leadership at the USAO gave her hope that her situation would improve.
Hours after a July meeting with her new Director of External Affairs who had recently joined the office from Fox News, Patty was abruptly terminated and left scrambling to collect her personal effects before her last long train ride home.
Now, Patty is calling on former federal employees to run for public office and restore faith in the legislative branch's constitutionally-mandated checks and balances of the executive. Patty is still seeking opportunities to continue her career of service, volunteering with the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, and getting certified along with her beloved pup to do therapy visits for others in need.
Patty remains a beloved part of the extended FBI and DOJ family, and we're outraged and devastated by the administration's decision to politicize her role as a dedicated public servant. The January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol remains the single largest attack against the US Capitol since the British siege of Washington, DC during the War of 1812. Patty's role sharing information with the public about DOJ's effort to defend democracy should be admired not punished.
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Watch Patty's interview with CBS News about her unlawful firing.
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Learn more about Patty from her hometown paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Read about former feds running for public office on the Federal News Network.
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Read the DC USAO press release announcing Edward Martin's appointment as interim US Attorney.
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Read about DOJ "media outreach expert" Michael Caputo's unhinged tweets at the Talking Points Memo.
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Read about AG Pam Bondi's establishment of the DOJ Weaponization Working Group headed by Ed Martin.
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Read how Ed Martin planned to name and shame targets he couldn't lawfully predicate cases against.
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Read NPR's coverage of the "Fox-to-Trump funnel" and Jeanine Pirro's surprise appointment as interim DC US Attorney.
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Read about DC USAO Criminal Division Chief Denise Cheung's resignation.
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Read about AG Bondi's baseless invocation of "Article II of the United States Constitution" to fire three DOJ attorneys.
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Read about OMB's plan to violate federal law and withhold pay from furloughed workers post-shutdown.
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Find resources for active and retired federal employees through NARFE.
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Read about FBI Director Kash Patel's firing of FBI agents for their roles investigating public corruption
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2024 FBI DIOG at the FBI Vault.
