Next year, the House Judiciary Committee plans on holding “numerous hearings” with FBI officials and FBI whistleblowers to examine allegations of political bias at the Bureau, misuses of federal law-enforcement powers, and potential violations against the Whistleblower Protection Act, Ranking Member Jim Jordan’s office told American Greatness on Thursday.
Rep. Jordan (R-Ohio) is set to become the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when the Republicans take over Congress in January.
Over the past year, more than a dozen whistleblowers have approached Judiciary Committee Republicans with allegations of malfeasance by FBI senior leadership, risking their careers to expose the alleged bias and corrupt practices at the Bureau.
Judiciary Committee Republicans released a report in November that details “abuse at the highest level” of the FBI as described in whistleblower disclosures and other forms. The report highlights whistleblower accounts about how the FBI “abused its law-enforcement authorities for political purposes,” and took actions that “show a political bias against conservatives.”
The whistleblowers also described the FBI’s Washington senior leadership as “rotted at its core,” maintaining a “systemic culture of unaccountability,” and full of “rampant corruption, manipulation, and abuse,” according to the report.
Two FBI whistleblowers who went public earlier this year, expressed concern on social media and in media interviews this week that Republican lawmakers no longer consider them a priority now that the 2022 election is over. Both of the whistleblowers have sacrificed their careers to go public about FBI malfeasance.
FBI Special Agent Steve Friend, 37, was suspended in September—“stripped of his gun and badge, and escorted out of the FBI field office in Daytona Beach, Fla.”—after conscientiously objecting to taking part in the Bureau’s harassment of conservative Americans.
Special Agent Kyle Seraphin was indefinitely suspended on June 1 after nearly six years with the Bureau after he made a “protected disclosure” regarding Attorney General Merrick Garland’s email ordering the FBI to use Patriot Act counterterrorism tools to target parents at school board meetings.
Serphin on December 2 posted a list of 45 questions for FBI Director Christopher Wray, from “the Suspendables, FBI agents who were suspended for upholding their oaths.”
🚨Here we go folks. The Suspendables, FBI Agents who were suspended for upholding their oaths, have some questions for @FBI Dir Chris Wray. @dbongino @SebGorka @julie_kelly2 @mirandadevine @RichSementa @marklevinshow @DarrenJBeattie @TuckerCarlson @seanhannity @Jim_Jordan pic.twitter.com/068FwVDXqG
— Kyle Seraphin (@KyleSeraphin) December 2, 2022
“I have not heard back from elected officials since the midterm elections,” Friend told podcaster Emerald Robinson on Monday.
FBI whistleblower @RealStevefriend has NOT heard back from any elected officials following the midterm elections.
Steve Friend was suspended by the FBI after refusing to participate in unconstitutional raids.
WATCH: pic.twitter.com/DNt1daj6KI
— The Absolute Truth with @EmeraldRobinson (@AbsoluteWithE) December 12, 2022
“Me neither buddy. I did hear it on very good authority that @JudiciaryGOP staff considered me ‘too hot’ politically, and I’m sure you are getting there,” Seraphin responded on Twitter.
Friend told radio host Joe Pags on Tuesday that he believed Jordan and his colleagues were “laying the groundwork” to hold hearings early next year, but lamented that he hasn’t heard anything more about it since the election.
“My great fear is that we were just used as rocket fuel for a campaign and they’re going to get distracted by the next shiny object,” he said.
Jordan’s office indicated that nothing could be further from the truth.
“The FBI and the whistleblower issue is one of Mr. Jordan’s top concerns—if not, his number one concern going into the new Congress,” Jordan’s communications director Russell Dye told American Greatness.
Dye said “our office has been in communication with numerous whistleblowers both before and after the election, and we will continue to be in touch with the whistleblowers. We hope more whistleblowers continue to contact our team.”
Jordan sent a letter to FBI director Christopher Wray in May of 2022 to complain that the FBI has been stripping employees of security clearances for attending Trump’s rally on January 6 while they were on official leave, and even though they “did not enter the U.S. Capitol.”
“While FBI employees may not participate in partisan political campaigns, [they] do not give up their rights to engage in political speech activity,” wrote Jordan. “We have serious concerns that the FBI appears to be retaliating against employees for engaging in political speech disfavored by FBI leadership,” he added.
Friend told American Greatness that he would like to see more done about the Bureau’s retaliation against whistleblowers.
“I’m hoping they will prioritize whistleblower protection and expose how the FBI is weaponizing suspension of security clearances as a workaround to punish those who make protected disclosures,” he said.
Friend said there are hundreds of potential whistleblowers working in the FBI, but they need to feel that it’s safe to come forward.
“I’m part of a network of 300 people currently working in the FBI and informing,” he told American Greatness. “Imagine if 10 percent of those people came forward.”