FBI pulled whistleblower's clearance for views on Trump, vax

FPI / June 12, 2024

An FBI whistleblower had his top secret security clearance pulled after the J6 protest as agents interrogated his colleagues about his support for President Donald Trump and whether he objected to the Covid vaccine, according to internal files from the bureau’s Security Division.

The whistleblower, who at the time had 12 years service in the bureau, earned cash awards and high marks on his performance evaluations — but had his security clearance taken in March 2022 and was suspended without pay during the internal investigation, the New York Post reported.

The whistleblower took personal leave to attend the “Save America” rally alongside other Trump supporters on J6, but reported that fact himself to an FBI security official. He did not enter the Capitol grounds, offered to take a polygraph test to prove it and was informed by an examiner for the inspector general’s office during the probe that there was “no deception” in his answer, according to a letter from the nonprofit representing him to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

In the letter to Horowitz, Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt revealed that his group obtained the “pre-printed” questions FBI employees were presented with about their client.

The Clearance Investigations Unit questionnaire asks whether the client would ever “vocalize support for President Trump,” “vocalize objection to Covid-19 vaccination,” “vocalize intent to attend 01/06/2021” or “attended the Richmond Lobby Day event on 1/18/2021.”

Some of the other questions were redacted, along with the identity of the whistleblower.

The whistleblower's colleagues were told they had a “duty to reply” to each question “fully and truthfully” or “action against your security clearance may be undertaken and you may be referred to Inspection Division for possible disciplinary action.”

His colleagues described the whistleblower as having “right wing views” or “strong Republican values” that were “nothing extreme” — but had “never implied [he] would do anything physical” or promoted “violence.”

After his clearance was suspended, the whistleblower also made protected disclosures to the House Judiciary Committee alleging that the security process was being politicized and abused by the FBI.

In April 2023, FBI Executive Assistant Director Jennifer Leigh Moore revoked the security clearance following the investigation, and the whistleblower has recently retired from the bureau — but Empower Oversight is still appealing the decision, given its weight for future employment opportunities.

“The documents appear to demonstrate [the Security Division]’s political bias and abuse of the security clearance process to purge the FBI of employees who expressed disfavored political views or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement,” Leavitt told Horowitz.

“Instead of limiting its investigation to legitimate issues, [the Security Division] acted as if support for President Trump, objecting to COVID-19 vaccinations, or lawfully attending a protest was the equivalent of being a member of Al Qaida or the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

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