OAN’s Brooke Mallory
10:43 AM – Wednesday, June 12, 2024
According to his lawyer, the Top Secret security clearance of a long-standing FBI employee was suspended due to the disclosure of his pro-Trump views, pro-gun attitude, and private concerns regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and masking.
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Friends and family also verified that the 12-year FBI employee did support Trump and attended the January 6th rally and a Second Amendment event during the background check procedure to renew his clearance.
“The employee attended the rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington before it turned into a riot, and reported his presence to the FBI the next day,” according to the Daily Signal outlet.
His attorney, Tristan Leavitt, released internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents that revealed the political queries that the FBI questioned him on, as well as other “witnesses.”
Leavitt, who has previously defended a number of government whistleblowers, then wrote to the inspector general of the Justice Department, questioning why the security clearance process needed to involve such political inquiries and whether the agency had been compromised.
“Instead of limiting its investigation to legitimate issues, [the FBI’s 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 Qaeda or the Chinese Communist Party,” Leavitt stated.
The review purportedly occurred after the employee appropriately disclosed to his superiors that he had attended the rally on January 6th, 2021.
Additionally, the inquiries relate to reports of other claims regarding internal FBI political bias against conservatives, according to Leavitt, who leads Empower Oversight, an organization that specializes in whistleblower cases.
Furthermore, he reiterated that on January 6th, the former FBI employee that he represents had done “nothing unlawful.”
Documents obtained by Empower Oversight indicated that agents in the FBI Security Division interviewed the employee several times in order to learn more about his political views.
The memos also indicate that “witnesses” were questioned about the employee’s “support for President Trump” as well as any “objections to COVID-19 vaccinations.”
According to the records, several employees were questioned about whether the FBI employee “attended the Richmond Lobby Day event,” which is a gathering in support of gun rights.
“The FBl’s intentions are made clear by the questions it chose to put in black and white on a government document,” Leavitt continued.
In a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, he described the cancellation of his client’s clearance as “shocking,” an “abuse of authority, and a violation of our client’s rights under the First Amendment.”
Multiple cases of politically motivated clearance reviews have occurred, according to those familiar with the situation who spoke with Just The News. This suggests that Leavitt’s client is not the only one who has suffered consequences for his opinions on Trump, COVID-19 vaccinations, and firearms.
In the letter to Horowitz, it highlights how the former FBI employee had received favorable performance reviews throughout his time working for the agency.
Despite expressing Republican-minded sentiments, the other employees who were questioned about the former employee’s clearance cancellation assured investigators that he was “not a threat” whatsoever.
The FBI employee “very significantly supported [Trump], would listen to talk shows. Trump did not lose. Dems stole it. Militant point of view. Never implied would do anything aggressive/physical,” according to one investigator in the probe.
In a separate witness interview, a different investigator observed that the former employee “had right wing views,” but added that they were “nothing extreme.”
It was also revealed in the conversations that the FBI employee opposed face masking.
However, at the time of these interviews in April 2022, the federal government was not permitted to impose forced vaccination mandates on FBI workers due to a slew of legal challenges.
Additional employee interviews further expressed that, despite being a “gun nut,” who “went to all Second Amendment gatherings,” the former FBI employee did not “promote violence,” according to one witness who was unidentified.
“I write today to formally disclose to you on our client’s behalf shocking documents in [the FBI Security Division’s] investigative file that evidence an abuse of authority and a violation of our client’s rights under the First Amendment,” Leavitt’s letter continued.
“The documents appear to demonstrate [the FBI 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,” it concluded.
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