Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has successfully arranged for the testimony of former FBI officials Garret O’Boyle, Steve Friend, and Marcus Allen, all of whom were suspended for expressing their concerns. These witnesses are set to reveal on Thursday the alleged retaliatory actions they have faced from the FBI for speaking out.
According to The DailyMail, the whistleblowers will also disclose that officials within the FBI manipulated data on domestic violent extremism to align with the political narratives of the Biden administration.
The hearing, scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m. ET, will center around the alleged abuses of power witnessed by the former officials. They will have the chance to provide specific accounts of the retaliation they claim to have faced from the FBI.
The DailyMail wrote:
The O’Boyle and Friend participated in a closed door transcribed interview in February conducted by the select committee.
According to notes from the interview, the former agents specifically expressed concerns with instructions from FBI leadership that they focus on pursuing ‘domestic violent extremism’ probes and disregard standard investigative procedures in January 6 cases.
In addition, the former officials told the committee that they were instructed to pursue Jan. 6 investigations over child sex crime cases, because they were ‘no longer a priority.’
Specifically, the former agents accuse the FBI of inflating statistics on ‘domestic violent extremism’ to fit the Biden administration’s political narrative that extremism is on the rise nationwide.
‘The manipulative casefile practice creates false and misleading crime statistics, constituting false official federal statements,’ Friend wrote in an affidavit.
‘Instead of hundreds of investigations stemming from an isolated incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, FBI and DOJ officials point to significant increases in domestic violent extremism and terrorism around the United States.’
Friend had his security clearance revoked last September after he vocalized concerns to his superiors, which he described in an affidavit as being a clear retaliatory move by the agency against him. O’Boyle’s clearance has also been stripped.
Allen, who has not yet sat before the select committee, is expected to present new evidence to the lawmakers Thursday.
The FBI has been under intense scrutiny lately from members of the GOP. Last week, former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin provided information about the pipe bombs found near the RNC and DNC buildings before the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Seraphin claimed that the devices were not functional and posed no real threat, contradicting the FBI’s official statement. Seraphin revealed a discrepancy in suspect identification, raising doubts about the thoroughness of the investigation.