The House Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government reported that several FBI employees faced retaliatory measures, including suspension and revocation of security clearances, after voicing concerns over alleged misconduct within the bureau.
Thursday's interim staff report featured new whistleblower testimonies from current and former FBI employees, shining light on "egregious abuse, misallocation of law enforcement resources and misconduct within the FBI's leadership ranks," as the document obtained by Fox News suggests.
Two whistleblowers, ex-FBI special agent Steve Friend and FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen, had their security clearances revoked this month. Both are anticipated to testify before the Weaponization Subcommittee on Thursday. Friend's clearance was revoked after he raised concerns about the FBI's handling of Domestic Violent Extremism cases and its response to the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Allen, on the other hand, lost his security clearance for conducting job-related research using open-source news articles and sharing his findings with his task force colleagues. The report stated that the FBI penalized Allen for his "conspiratorial views in regard to the events of January 6th," when he shared open-source opinion videos related to the Capitol riot for "situational awareness."
In a letter obtained by Fox News, the FBI provided their account of the suspensions to both Republicans and Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. The letter confirmed that Friend's top-secret security clearance was revoked two days prior to the Subcommittee hearing for his refusal to partake in a court-authorized search and arrest operation. Furthermore, the FBI accused Friend of downloading documents from FBI computer systems to an unauthorized flash drive, refusing to attend a Security Awareness Briefing, and conducting multiple unapproved media interviews.
In Allen's case, his top-secret security clearance was revoked after he was accused of espousing alternative theories and attempting to obstruct investigative activity, even after receiving multiple directives from his supervisor to halt. The FBI asserts that Allen's actions raised concerns about his judgment and reliability in safeguarding sensitive information.
Despite these counterclaims, the committees' report declares that the FBI, under Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, is flawed. They allege that the bureau and the Justice Department have weaponized federal law enforcement against Americans with dissenting views. The committees also claimed a 'purge' of agents with conservative beliefs and pledged to continue their investigation into the weaponization of federal law enforcement.