WEAPONIZATION: FBI “Whistleblower” fiasco a major FAILURE for Jim Jordan
Republicans have touted their plans to interview a group of FBI “whistleblowers” in order to prove that the Bureau has been “politicized,” and now that the hearings have begun, House Judiciary Democrats are exposing the truth about these individuals. Of course, that’s not keeping Jim Jordan and his ilk from doubling down.
House Democrats revealed in a new report that there are a number of issues with these so-called whistleblowers — including the witnesses taking payments from a Trump ally and embracing unfounded conspiracy theories about matters ranging from the 2020 election to COVID-19.
The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have dropped a report spanning more than 300 pages to expose it all
The most important conclusion from the report comes in the forward, where Democrats report that the witnesses that Jordan has touted are not “whistleblowers” by any stretch of the word’s definition because they have not brought forth any evidence or information, only conspiracy theories.
Moreover, their testimony has been influenced, the report explains, by outside sources, specifically including Trump ally Kash Patel, who allegedly provided them with compensation and new employment.
The individuals made claims that the FBI was engaged in misconduct regarding the January 6th investigation, but none provided any evidence of this, the report says, nor of any harm or retribution the witnesses had suffered for attempting to bring the imagined misconduct to light.
From the report’s forward:
“In an attempt to prove their “weaponization” allegations, Republicans have turned to three individuals who have not only failed to provide any evidence of wrongdoing but are also entirely lacking in credibility. In contrast, the Committee heard from one supremely credible former FBI official who directly refuted the narratives Republicans are working to advance. Committee Democrats thus conclude that Republicans are not running good-faith investigations. Instead, they are using this committee as a political messaging campaign designed “make sure” that Donald Trump wins in 2024.”
The report goes on to describe specific concerns.
One witness, Stephen Friend, made contact with Kash Patel on Facebook and was immediately sent $5k. Patel also promoted Friend’s book.
Representative Matt Gaetz acknowledged this at CPAC, where he characterized the payment as a simple effort to make sure that Friend could buy his children coats for the winter and pay a few bills, as you’ll see in a clip below.
Though Friend and his GOP allies indicate that his suspension from the FBI was retaliation for his whistleblowing, the Democratic report shows otherwise:
“Friend has publicly stated that his security clearance was suspended because he improperly accessed material on FBI computer systems, and during his testimony, he admitted that while a Special Agent at the Daytona Beach Resident Agency, he accessed and removed documents marked ‘For Official Use Only’ from a classified FBI system.”
For another witness, Garrett O’Boyle, Patel made a connection with a Trump-aligned lawyer, who the Committee learned is representing O’Boyle pro bono.
In fact, O’Boyle himself learned this only during testimony — he testified that Patel’s organization, Fight With Kash, was paying and was corrected by the attorney at the end of his testimony.
As for O’Boyle’s testimony, the questioning resulted in revelations, but not the ones the GOP promised their fans:
“When questioned by Democratic staff, however, O’Boyle admitted that he never worked on any matters related to school boards, that he did not work on any of the matters described in the letter by Republican staff, and that everything he knew about those matters was based on what Republican staff read to him,” the report stated.
Taken altogether, the “whistleblowers” that Jordan has summoned appear to be paid participants, working with a shared goal of destroying the FBI, and doing so only with the information they’ve been fed or concluded without evidence.
The full report on the witnesses summoned by Jim Jordan can be read here (PDF).
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1632056349440843781
Steph Bazzle covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph.
