House Republicans said Tuesday that the FBI suspended a whistleblower who pushed back against the bureau’s handling of Jan. 6 Capitol breach investigations.
The Twitter post also included portions of a recent letter sent by Republicans to FBI Director Christopher Wray, which contained allegations from the whistleblower in question. That person claimed that the FBI altered its rules to create the illusion that domestic violent extremism (DVE) appears more often than it really does.
“The FBI’s case categorization creates the illusion that threats from DVE are present in jurisdictions across the nation, when in reality they all stem from the same related investigation concerning the actions at the Capitol on January 6,” a letter sent by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to FBI Director Christopher Wray read, which was also cited by House Judiciary Republicans in the Twitter post.
Describing the FBI processes as an “artificial case categorization scheme,” Jordan wrote that it allows FBI leaders to “misleadingly point to ‘significant’ increases in DVE threats nationwide.”
What the Whistleblower Alleged
“This scheme allows you to continue to support on paper your assertion that ‘[t]he FBI is a field-based law enforcement organization, and the vast majority of our investigations should continue to be worked by our field offices,’ while actually running the investigation from Washington,” the whistleblower was quoted as saying by the GOP letter.At one point, the person asserted that the FBI’s leaders took agents away from child sexual abuse cases and assigned them to Jan. 6-related cases.
“The FBI is charged with protecting the American people from a wide variety of threats, from terrorism, cyber threats, and violent crime to public corruption, hate crimes, and crimes against children,” the spokesperson said, adding the agency’s “commitment to one does not come at the expense of another.”
The FBI, meanwhile, only “investigates individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and other criminal activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security,” the statement said.
Jordan’s letter to Wray requested the FBI director hand over all documents and communications relating to the FBI Washington’s procedures for opening Jan. 6 investigations, the number of agents involved, and other details about the probe.
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