FBI Is Purging Christians, Conservatives, And Covid Skeptics, New Whistleblowers Allege
New disclosures show massive politicization of federal law enforcement
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revoked whistleblowers’ security clearances due to legitimate security concerns, reported the New York Times and the Washington Post last spring. The FBI agents who testified about FBI abuse of power before the House Judiciary Committee in May, the New York Times claimed, “do not meet the definition of whistleblowers.”
The FBI penalized those agents, agreed Democrats, for valid reasons, including their support for January 6 rioters, and they used the House hearing to pursue a politically motivated “vendetta against the FBI.” They “are not, in fact whistleblowers,” Democrats said.
But now yet more FBI employees have come forward to make protected whistleblower disclosures to the House Judiciary Committee. The new disclosures, which Public obtained copies of, suggest that the FBI’s Security Division has knowingly retaliated against at least one whistleblower and is improperly using security clearance investigations to single out others.
The FBI denies any wrongdoing. In a statement to Public, the FBI said, “While we have no comment on specific employees, the FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures…. The FBI will look into any allegations that employees have broken laws or violated FBI policies and take action if appropriate. We hold all employees to the highest standards of conduct.”
The whistleblower disclosures, however, suggest that the FBI does not always “hold all employees to the highest standards of conduct.” On multiple occasions, say whistleblowers, the Security Division allowed employees to keep their security clearances after being involved in domestic violence incidents. In one case described in the whistleblower disclosures, a special agent was permitted to keep his security clearance and firearm after being arrested for allegedly trying to strangle a female partner.
In contrast, whistleblowers say, the Security Division has used exaggerated allegations of minor misconduct to suspend and revoke security clearances of conservatives, veterans, whistleblowers, and unvaccinated employees. In doing so, they allege, the FBI has violated security clearance guidelines laid out by the Office of the Director of National Security.
The Washington Times reported on the disclosure about the FBI’s targeting of military veterans last Friday, noting that officials had attempted to declare a Marine and other veterans as “disloyal to the United States of America.” The next day, the FBI denied the whistleblowers’ allegations without any investigation.
“The FBI is an agency that is founded on evidence,” Kurt Siuzdak, an attorney for the whistleblowers, told Public. “When the FBI came out and initially denied this happened, they denied it in a matter of hours.” The FBI, rather than look into whistleblowers’ allegations, has attempted to discredit them without evidence. “Something has happened where the FBI has decided the facts don’t matter,” said Siuzdak.
For those who have been targeted by Security Division investigations, the consequences are extreme. “They destroyed our life,” whistleblower Garret O’Boyle said about the effect his suspension had on his family. O’Boyle, the FBI and the media said, was suspended for leaking sensitive information.
Due to the FBI’s allegations, House Democrats have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate O’Boyle. But one of the new whistleblower disclosures claims that at the time of O’Boyle’s suspension, the Security Division had already determined that he had not leaked information. One or more whistleblowers allege that a Security Division official said he wanted to “screw” O’Boyle by suspending him immediately after he transferred to a new field office and moved his family across the country.
The new whistleblower allegations are extremely serious as they are made against America’s federal law enforcement organization, one ostensibly committed to the rule of law. What, exactly, is going on? What is behind the FBI’s effort to target and purge these agents?
Religion, Politics, And Covid
