Chris Lange, FISM News
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The FBI yanked the security clearances of three whistleblowers set to testify before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government today.
The informants will offer testimony about alleged abuses and misconduct committed by the Bureau, including punitive measures taken against them for voicing their concerns.
Republicans on the Committee held a press briefing ahead of this morning’s hearing, during which Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) shared video clips from depositions of FBI whistleblowers who each said they were subjected to retaliation for speaking up about alleged abuses or even questioning the Bureau’s practices.
BREAKING: At today’s @Weaponization press conference, I showed film from multiple depositions conducted over the past few months of FBI whistleblowers detailing how the agency is targeting and retaliating against those who speak up.
The footage is shocking. 👇 pic.twitter.com/rFJRvLu1yJ
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 18, 2023
The Committee released an interim staff report Thursday morning revealing new whistleblower testimony from several current and former FBI employees.
Our latest report is a must read.
We must defund and dismantle the FBI. https://t.co/1AEfwnlATP
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) May 18, 2023
Prepared opening statements of FBI whistleblowers Marcus Allen, Stephen Friend, and Garret O’Boyle obtained by Just the News offer stunning details of punitive actions they said were taken against them by the Bureau after they expressed concern or challenged its handling of sensitive political issues.
Intelligence Analyst Marcus Allen will testify that the Bureau pulled his security clearance, and thus his ability to continue working for the FBI, after he questioned the veracity of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony before Congress concerning the events of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Allen specifically called to question Wray’s denial that the FBI had infiltrated certain groups that participated in the protest against the 2020 presidential election results.
Allen said that he advised his supervisors by letter that “[t]here is a good possibility the DC elements of our organization are not being forthright about the events of the day or the influence of government assets.”
The FBI subsequently suspended his security clearance and accused him of holding “conspiratorial views.”
“Despite my history of unblemished service to the United States, the FBI suspended my security clearance, accusing me of actually being DISLOYAL to my country,” Allen said in his prepared remarks. “This outrageous and insulting accusation is based on unsubstantiated accusations that I hold ‘conspiratorial views’ regarding the events of January 6, 2021 and that I allegedly sympathize with criminal conduct,” the statement continued. “I do not. Instead, it appears that I was retaliated against because I forwarded information to my superiors and others that questioned the official narrative of the events of January 6.”
Allen, who filed a complaint of retaliation with the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General, will testify that he has not received a paycheck for over a year as a result of the security clearance suspension and that the Bureau has refused to grant his request to seek other employment. As a result, he said that he and his family have been forced to survive on early retirement account withdrawals and no longer have insurance coverage.
BUREAU ALLEGEDLY LEAKED INFORMANT’S MEDICAL RECORDS TO NYT
Special Agent Stephen Friend also filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel alleging that he was suspended from the Bureau after voicing concern over its treatment of Jan. 6 defendants as well as alleged manipulation of crime statistics.
“At each level of my chain of command, leadership cautioned that despite my exemplary work performance, whistleblowing placed my otherwise bright future with the FBI at risk,” he said. “In addition to an indefinite, unpaid suspension, the FBI initiated a campaign of humiliation and intimidation to punish and pressure me to resign,” the statement continued.
Additional alleged retaliatory actions Friend will testify about include the Bureau’s denial of his request to seek outside employment, imposing “an illegal gag order in an attempt to prevent me from communicating with my family and attorneys.” He also accused the Bureau of leaking his medical records to the New York Times in violation of HIPPA laws.
FBI TARGETED PRO-LIFE GROUPS AFTER ROE REPEAL
Meanwhile, Special Agent Garret O’Boyle will offer testimony that the FBI prioritized investigations into pro-life groups following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning federal abortion rights. O’Boyle will testify that he challenged the approach, particularly given the fact that pro-abortion activists targeted the homes of conservative Supreme Court Justices. Instead, the Bureau wanted agents to probe pregnancy health centers.
“Despite our oath to uphold the Constitution, too many in the FBI aren’t willing to sacrifice for the hard right over the easy wrong,” his remarks read.
“They see what becomes of whistleblowers; how the FBI destroys their careers, suspends them under false pretenses, takes their security clearances and pay with no true options for real recourse or remedy. This is by design; it creates an Orwellian atmosphere that silences opposition and discussion,” Special Agent Garret O’Boyle wrote.
O’Boyle said that after he spoke up, the Bureau approved his transfer to another state.
“Then, on my first day on the new assignment, they suspended me; rendering my family homeless, and refused to release our household goods, including our clothes, for weeks,” he said, noting that his youngest child was only two months old at the time.
“What the American people will see today are the gross violations of the FBI,” Florida Rep. Kat Cammack wrote in a tweet ahead of the hearing that commenced at 9 a.m. EST. “Whistleblowers have come forward to speak up about what’s happened to them and we should all pay attention.”