The FBI questioned the whistleblower’s colleagues about their support for former President Trump and whether they opposed the COVID-19 vaccine, according to internal files from the FBI’s security division.
The whistleblower worked for the FBI for 12 years but, like several other employees, was stripped of his top secret security clearance in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and is now represented by the nonprofit group Empower Oversight.
Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt said in a letter Saturday to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz that the group had obtained “pre-printed” questions that fellow FBI officials had been asked about their clients.
The Clearance Investigation Unit’s questionnaire asks whether clients “express support for President Trump,” “oppose getting the COVID-19 vaccine,” “express their intention to attend January 6, 2021,” and “attend the Richmond Lobby Day event on January 18, 2021.”
Some of the other questions were deleted, along with the identity of the whistleblower.
Colleagues were told they had an “obligation” to answer each question “fully and honestly” or else “action may be taken against your security clearance and you may be referred to the Inspector General’s Office for possible disciplinary action.”
They described him as having “not extreme” but “by no means right-wing views” and “strong Republican values.” [he] Encouraging “physical action” or “violence.”
The whistleblower had worked for the FBI for 12 years and had received high marks in terms of bonuses and performance reviews, but he was stripped of his security clearance in March 2022 and suspended without pay pending an internal investigation.
According to Leavitt’s letter, on January 6, 2021, he took personal leave to attend the “Save America” rally with other Trump supporters, but he reported the fact to FBI security personnel himself, did not enter the Capitol, and offered to take a polygraph test to prove it. He also said that during the investigation, an inspector from the Office of the Inspector General informed him that his answers were “not false.”
After his suspension, the whistleblower also made a protected disclosure to the House Judiciary Committee alleging that security processes were being politicized and abused by the FBI.
Following an investigation, FBI Assistant Director Jennifer Lee Moore ultimately revoked the whistleblower’s security clearance in April 2023. Although the whistleblower recently retired from the FBI, Empower Oversight is still appealing the decision, given the impact it may have on future employment opportunities.
“The document, [the Security Division]”The FBI has engaged in political bias and abuse of its security clearance process to remove employees from the bureau who expressed objectionable political views or raised concerns about mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations,” Leavitt told Horowitz.
“Rather than limiting our investigation to legitimate issues; [the Security Division] “They acted as if supporting President Trump, opposing the COVID-19 vaccination or participating in lawful protests was the same as being a member of al-Qaida or the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
He added that U.S. Supreme Court precedent has said that firing a federal employee for “treasonable or seditious speech or conduct” violates the First Amendment.
“Revoking a security clearance solely for being in close proximity to someone who has committed an illegal act or for sharing similar political views to someone who has committed an illegal act is simply guilt by association,” Leavitt said.
He added that it was “reasonable” to infer from the internal documents that this pattern of suppressing free speech had been followed “in many other cases” as part of an effort to rid the FBI of employees with unfavorable views.
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate similarly wrote in a June 21, 2023 letter to the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General that “anyone who questions the FBI’s response or decisions regarding its response to January 6th should not serve at the FBI and should find another line of work.”
Leavitt called on Horowitz’s office to conduct an independent investigation into “the extent of these misconduct” and identify those responsible.
The letter follows a May investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Investigative Governance Commission (OIG) that found the FBI had improperly retaliated against whistleblowers whose security clearances had been suspended.
Neither the FBI nor the OIG office immediately responded to requests for comment.
