I am also interested in the accusation of "viciously subverted Trump during his first term" and what that might be about. The fact that the Trump people went after them does lead some credence to it. Maybe it was some sort of big mistake though?

If it was not a mistake, and even if they were doing good work somehow, Federal employment is just not a place for political activism. That leads to a vicious money -> politics feedback system that destroys actual democracy.