A hearing of the House Judiciary Committee descended into chaos on Thursday morning when Ohio representative and chair Jim Jordan asserted that the Republicans on the committee do not have to turn over key evidence to their Democratic colleagues because it came from a “whistleblower.”
Mr Jordan convened the committee on Thursday for a hearing on the “weaponisation of government,” calling witnesses to testify to alleged biases in federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI.
[...]
Rep Stacey Plaskett, a delegate from the US Virgin Islands, asked Mr Jordan whether he would turn over the testimony regarding the Republicans’ conversation with a witness. Mr Jordan said no, arguing that the witness is a whistleblower.
“Right now, you’re not getting the testimony,” Mr Jordan responded.
[...]
“I find it incredible that evidence that one side has garnered is not going to be shared with the other side,” Rep Linda Sanchez of California said. “That’s not how committees work.”
[...]
“These are not whistleblowers,” Ms Wasserman Schultz said. “They’ve been determined by the agency not to be whistleblowers. Are you deciding that they’re whistleblowers?”
Mr Jordan then accused Ms Wasserman Schultz of not listening to witness testimony as the hearing eventually continued in a contentious fashion.
Yahoo
I don't know. Maybe Dems can sue to get the records. Dan Goldman is an excellent attorney. But I suggest they also try to have Jordan removed as chair of the "weaponization" committee. Looks like he's weaponizing the committee itself. He's calling these ex-FBI agents "whistleblowers" in order to withhold their testimony, when they are essentially disgruntled employees. They all were suspended by the FBI over their actions on January 6 that brought into question their "allegiance to the US."
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE 11:25 am: Also, they were paid by Trump surrogate Kash Patel.
Also...
UPDATE 05/20/2023:
Jordan knows that MAGA will not be watching the hearing. They'll just accept the headlines that Jordan feeds MAGA news. So for his purposes, the truth doesn't matter.Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government intended for Thursday’s subcommittee hearing to help prove his point that the FBI has been wrongly targeting conservative agents. Jordan would bring forward whistleblowers, he promised, who would testify that the FBI stripped them of their security clearances for purely political reasons. However, Jordan’s efforts backfired even before they began.
[...]
[A letter to the committee] from Christopher Dunham, acting assistant director of the bureau, is a convincing rebuttal of Jordan’s story that the FBI retaliated against well-meaning public servants for expressing views contrary to their agency. Dunham explains that the agents in question had their security clearances revoked, pending appeal, for a number of reasons, including questions about their allegiance, reported criminal conduct, personal misconduct and how sensitive information was handled.
[...]
Democrats on the subcommittee [...] used the FBI’s report to hammer home the point that they weren’t buying what the witnesses were selling.
[...]
It’s important, first, to dispel the myth that these agents count as whistleblowers. To be officially designated whistleblowers, FBI employees must follow specific procedures. None of Jordan’s witnesses did so, thus, none of them was granted whistleblower status. More importantly, real FBI whistleblowers must also legitimately attempt to make what’s known as a protected disclosure of serious misconduct or criminal wrongdoing — usually described as waste, fraud or abuse. Yet, the only fraud this hearing exposed was the myth that these claimants are well-meaning patriots.
MSNBC
Whistleblowers. Whistling Dixie.[T]he letter says [alleged whistleblower Marcus] Allen told an agent that there was no information indicating that a particular individual had committed a crime or had a connection to terrorism. Based on that assertion, the agent closed the case. However, another FBI employee found readily available public information about this unnamed subject — who the FBI determined physically assaulted a U.S. Capitol police officer — and passed it to the agent who then re-opened the case.
Allen is also accused of repeatedly espousing conspiracy theories — including that the U.S. government participated in the January 6 violence — to his office mates.
[...]
[A]ccording to the FBI, [Steve] Friend’s clearance was revoked after he refused to take part in a court-authorized arrest of a Jan. 6 subject affiliated with the Three Percenters organization. The FBI knew the subject was armed with an assault rifle, had evidence that he’d chemically sprayed officers at the U.S. Capitol and appeared in photos taken that day dressed in full tactical gear and helmet. The subject was suspected of having committed a misdemeanor, but the FBI correctly decided its SWAT team should assist in the arrest. Friend decided that was too aggressive an approach and walked away from his assignment.
As the FBI’s letter noted, an investigation also determined that Friend entered FBI space after hours and downloaded sensitive documents onto an unapproved flash drive. The agency says that when he was asked to take remedial security awareness training, he refused. He’s also accused of secretly recording his FBI supervisors in violation of Florida law. The FBI’s investigation concluded that since his departure from the FBI, former agent Friend gave “multiple unapproved” interviews, including to a Russian media outlet, and he lacked candor while being investigated.
Friend quit the FBI rather than let the administrative process concerning his employment play out.
[...]
Brett Gloss, who did not testify Thursday, had his security clearance revoked based on a concern for his “allegiance to the United States,” his “personal conduct” and his “criminal conduct.” Specifically, the letter says Gloss breached Capitol security on Jan. 6, 2021 and criminally trespassed into the restricted zone. It says he expressed support for the criminal actions of protesters inside the Capitol and lied to investigators about his whereabouts and what he witnessed. He also allegedly betrayed his colleagues by providing photos of FBI agents to someone known to publicly post FBI information that may lead to violence against FBI personnel.
UPDATE 06/17/2023:
Three years! LOL
UPDATE 06/30/2023: With the GOP, it's always worse than you originally think.
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