FBI whistleblowers allege ‘retaliation’ as Democrats cast them as security threats
Jerry Dunleavy
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House Republicans joined FBI whistleblowers in alleging “retaliation” for exposing political “rot” within the bureau, while the FBI revoked some of their security clearances and Democrats accused them of being a “national security threat.”
The controversy spilled out as the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), released a report on what they called the “politically weaponized” FBI and held a whistleblower hearing on Thursday. Meantime, the FBI pushed out a letter criticizing some of the witnesses testifying to counter their allegations.
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Jordan called the whistleblowers “brave” for speaking out and said they suffered backlash from the FBI as a result.
“They came forward, and I want to thank them for doing it. But because they did, man oh man, have they faced retaliation,” Jordan said.
The new House Republican report blasted improper “retaliation” by the FBI against the whistleblowers who testified on Thursday: FBI special agent Stephen Friend, FBI special agent Garret O’Boyle, and FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen.
“Whistleblower testimony makes clear that the FBI rid itself of employees who dared to speak out against FBI leadership or to raise good faith concerns about FBI operations,” the report states. “The FBI has taken personnel actions against whistleblowers who raised concerns within the Bureau and, later, to Congress. In several instances — Friend, O’Boyle, and Allen — the FBI weaponized the security clearance adjudication process to silence employees who fight against the politicized ‘rot’ within the FBI leadership.”
The GOP report added that “because a security clearance is necessary to work at the FBI, revoking or suspending an agent’s security clearance effectively indefinitely suspends the agent and leaves the agent to languish in an unpaid purgatory.”
Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), the ranking member on the weaponization subcommittee, dismissed the FBI whistleblowers at the hearing as “men who lost their security clearances because they were a threat to our national security.” Plaskett also denied that the witnesses were real whistleblowers.
The House Judiciary Committee Democrats said on Twitter that “the FBI has rescinded the security clearances of two of its agents testifying today over concerns regarding their allegiance to the United States.”
The FBI released a letter Wednesday in which it stood by revoking security clearance access for three of the whistleblowers who spoke to Jordan’s committee.
When asked about the FBI’s letter during a Thursday morning press conference, Jordan replied, “It doesn’t frankly surprise me that the FBI puts out this letter the night before we’re going to have a hearing.”
The new House GOP report contends that “the FBI retaliated against Friend after he expressed concerns about how domestic violent extremism cases were being labeled and managed, the excessive force used in apprehending January 6 subjects, and for making protected disclosures to Congress.”
The report said that “the retaliation did not end with Friend’s indefinite suspension” and that “despite informing Friend that he could seek outside employment, the FBI refused to sign off on his requests to obtain it or to provide him with the documents necessary for other employment.”
Jennifer Moore, who serves as executive assistant director of the FBI’s Human Resources Branch, testified that the agency’s failure to give Friend his records was a “mistake” and said, “I owned that mistake.”
Republicans added that the FBI suspended Friend’s security clearance “as retaliation for Friend making protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress.”
Christopher Dunham, the FBI’s acting assistant director, sent a Wednesday evening letter to Jordan informing him that Friend’s top security clearance was “revoked” on Tuesday.
Dunham said that Friend “refused to participate in the execution of a court-authorized search and arrest of a criminal subject” and that he “espoused an alternative narrative about the events” during the Capitol riot.
The FBI also said that Friend “entered FBI space and downloaded documents from FBI computer systems to an unauthorized removable flash drive.” The bureau also claimed Friend “publicly released sensitive FBI information on his personal social media accounts without authorization” and “participated in multiple, unapproved media interviews, including an interview with a Russian government news agency.”
The FBI said Friend’s clearance was suspended and then revoked “based on security concerns” related to guidelines on “personal conduct,” “handling protected information,” “criminal conduct,” and “use of information technology.” The FBI also said that guidelines related to “allegiance to the United States” and “unmitigated security concerns indicate” that Friend “may not properly safeguard classified or sensitive information.”
Friend, who was a police officer before becoming an FBI agent, testified Thursday that “the FBI security division should be gravely concerned if executive managers threaten subordinate whistleblowers with adverse action.”
The GOP report also said that the FBI “retaliated” against Allen “for simply performing the duties of his job” and said that he was “suspended without pay.” The report said Allen passed along articles related to the Capitol riot to his fellow employees, and that because these articles “questioned the FBI’s handling of the violence at the Capitol,” the FBI suspended Allen for “conspiratorial views.”
Republicans also said that “during his suspension, Allen testified that he sought the FBI’s permission to seek outside employment, but the FBI has refused to acknowledge his requests or provide him with the documentation necessary for other employment.” The report noted that “the FBI officially revoked Mr. Allen’s security clearance one day after his transcribed interview to this Committee.”
The FBI’s new letter said that Allen’s top secret security clearance was “revoked” on May 3, with the bureau contending that the clearance was first suspended related to guidelines on “allegiance to the United States.” The bureau said Allen “espoused alternative theories to coworkers verbally and in emails and instant messages sent on the FBI systems, in apparent attempts to hinder investigative activity.”
The bureau said it revoked Allen’s clearance over guidelines on “allegiance to the United States” and “personal conduct” and contended that Allen “obstructed the FBI’s lawful investigation of a subject” tied to the Capitol riot.
Allen, a Marine veteran who served two tours in Iraq before joining the bureau, testified Thursday that he had been subjected to “whistleblower retaliation by the FBI” and warned against “the FBI’s use of the security clearance process to retaliate against whistleblowers.” He called the FBI’s allegations about him an “outrageous and insulting accusation” and “calumny” and said that “my treatment, without a doubt, has sent a chilling effect” to future whistleblowers.
The Republican report also said that O’Boyle was “subject to FBI retaliation for making protected disclosures to Congress after expressing his concerns up his chain of command with no action being taken.” He told the committee that the FBI has “weaponized that clearance process.”
Republicans said O’Boyle “described how the FBI suspended him right in the middle of his transfer and two weeks before his wife gave birth to their fourth child, causing their personal belongings — clothes, toys, furniture — to be stuck in an FBI-controlled storage unit for an extended period of time.”
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Moore told committee investigators that it was “absolutely” a coincidence that she signed O’Boyle’s clearance suspension notice the same day that O’Boyle moved across the country.
O’Boyle, who was an infantryman in the U.S. Army and served in Iraq and Afghanistan and then became a police officer before joining the bureau, testified Thursday that he had been “wrongly suspended” by the FBI, calling it a “smear campaign.” He added that his security clearance is still being adjudicated by the FBI.
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