Three FBI officials will testify about alleged ‘abuses of power’ by FBI leadership – ranging from discriminating against conservatives to inflating domestic terrorism statistics – in a public whistleblower hearing by the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday, DailyMail.com learned exclusively.
Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and head of the select committee, obtained in-person testimony from suspended FBI special agents Garret O’Boyle and Steve Friend, as well as former operations specialist State of the FBI Marcus Allen. Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt will also testify.
The hearing is scheduled for Thursday at 9 a.m. ET and will focus on the “abuse of power” witnessed by former officials. They will have the opportunity to detail how they were “retaliated against” by the FBI, according to a source familiar.
The O’Boyle and Friend took part in a February closed-door transcribed interview conducted by the select committee.
According to the interview notes, the former agents specifically expressed concern about FBI management’s instructions that they focus on continuing to investigate “domestic violent extremism” and disregard internal procedures. Standard Inquiry into the January 6 Cases.
FBI Director Chris Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland are accused by whistleblowers of politicized actions against conservatives
Steven Friend (right) had his security clearance revoked last September after raising concerns with his superiors
Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and head of the select committee, obtained in-person testimony from former FBI special agents
In addition, the former officials told the committee that they were instructed to continue the January 6 investigations into child sex crimes cases because they were “no longer a priority.”
Specifically, the former agents accuse the FBI of inflating statistics on “domestic violent extremism” to match the Biden administration’s political narrative that extremism is on the rise across the country.
“The practice of manipulating records creates false and misleading crime statistics, constituting false official federal reporting,” Friend wrote in an affidavit.
“Instead of hundreds of investigations resulting from a single incident on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, FBI and DOJ officials are reporting a significant increase in violent extremism and domestic terrorism in the United States.”
Friend had his security clearance stripped last September after raising his concerns with his superiors, which he described in an affidavit as clear retaliatory action by the agency against him. O’Boyle’s clearance was also withdrawn.
Allen, who has yet to serve on the select committee, is expected to present new evidence to lawmakers on Thursday.
The hearing comes after Republicans released a 1,000-page report last November on “the politicization of the FBI and DOJ.”
The report included information on disclosures by 14 whistleblowers who found that FBI leadership demonstrated “political bias” against conservatives, manipulated domestic violent extremism statistics for “political purposes” and downplayed the Hunter Biden investigation — among other alleged abuses of power.
One of the biggest accusations leveled at the FBI is that the agency worked to expel conservative employees.
During the first select committee hearing in February, lawmakers specifically addressed this issue.
Jordan said the hearing was being conducted to shed light on the revelations of “good, brave FBI agents who are ready to come forward and tell us the truth.”
GOP Sense. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., testified as the select committee’s star witnesses.
FBI Director Wray told a congressional hearing last month that the FBI had been “unfairly criticized.”
Jordan said the hearing was being conducted to shed light on the revelations of “good, brave FBI agents who are ready to come forward and tell us the truth.”
The senators — who both led the charge on exposing internal DOJ and FBI problems — detailed complaints from whistleblowers they deemed important enough to reveal.
“It is clear to me that the Department of Justice and the FBI are suffering from a political infection which, if not overcome, will cause the American people to distrust these legendary institutions,” Grassley said during of the hearing.
Johnson and Grassley also wrote to the FBI last fall, demanding that the agency reinstate Friend’s security clearance because he is protected by the Whistleblower Protection Act.
“As a result, the FBI should immediately cease any disciplinary action it is actively taking to punish Special Agent Friend for his protected whistleblower activity,” they wrote.
The FBI has pushed back against accusations that the agency is “politicized.”
Wray told a congressional hearing last month that the FBI had been “unfairly criticized” and that its agents were working hard on behalf of the American people.
Democrats criticized the hearing, and the select committee more generally, as an effort by Republicans to “present conspiracy theories.”
