"Weaponization" Subcommittee Weaponizes MAGA FBI Agents At Hearing

Let's have a look at the three FBI "whistleblowers" who testified today in front of crackpot predator protector Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan's meta- projection "weaponization of government" subcommittee:

The FBI has revoked the security clearances of three agents for issues related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a letter from the bureau to congressional investigators obtained by ABC News.

One of the agents was among the pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol, according to the FBI, and the two others are alleged to have hindered investigative efforts.

At least two of the agents -- Steve Friend and Marcus Allen -- are expected to testify Thursday before the Republican-led House select subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government as part of its probe into the federal government's purported wrongdoings against conservatives.  [snip]

According to the letter, agent Brett Gloss knowingly entered a restricted zone around the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, in violation of the law.

"The FBI reviewed communications in which Mr. Gloss expressed support for the protestors' unauthorized entry into the Capitol building and support for their criminal acts against the U.S," said the letter, which was sent Wednesday.

The letter also said Gloss provided false or misleading information during an interview about what he observed at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and whether he entered the restricted zone.

The agents' security clearances were revoked earlier this month, the letter said.

"Specifically, the Security Division found Mr. Allen espoused alternative theories to coworkers verbally and in emails and instant messages sent on the FBI systems, in apparent attempts to hinder investigative activity," the letter to investigators said, alleging that Allen failed to provide relevant information about criminal activity at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The bureau also says that Friend refused to participate in a court-authorized search and arrest of a criminal suspect and also espoused an alternate narrative of Jan. 6.

In addition to these concerns, the FBI also said in their letter that Friend would post sensitive FBI information on his social media accounts and did an interview with a Russian news agency without approval from the FBI's office of public affairs. (our emphasis)

These three are prime examples of the failure to screen out fascists during the hiring process.  They clearly violated their oaths to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and "to faithfully discharge the duties of the office..."  They placed allegiance to the corrupt coup plotter above allegiance to the country and to our democratic form of government, and now Gym paraded them in front of his kangaroo subcommittee in the continuing effort by Christofascist Republicans to whitewash the January 6 insurrection.  

We need to continue to note who these un-American, coup- friendly people are for posterity (if not for prosecution).

BONUS:  Here's what former FBI counterintelligence official Frank Figliuzzi had to say about the hearing --

 

"Essentially Jim Jordan wasn't ready for this. The FBI has called his bluff with this letter... It means the FBI's about had it with the myth that they're retaliating against employees for merely expressing conservative opinions" - @FrankFigliuzzi1 w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/DWMx9zQjcS

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) May 18, 2023

 

(Photo:  Gym conferring with alleged sexual predator Matt Gaetz on the subcommittee/ Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

House Republican Clowns Weaponize Government Against Themselves

The clown show, a.k.a. the Republican House Judiciary's "weaponization of government" subcommittee, takes dead aim at feet, pulls trigger:

Allies of Donald Trump and Rep.Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have been struggling mightily to come up with whistleblowers who will tell all about the imagined "deep state" conspiracy in the federal government out to get the former president. Instead, the effort has turned into a "dumpster fire" blowing up in their faces, Rolling Stone reported Thursday.

Republicans hauled out FBI veteran George Hill in early February to spill about the "weaponized" deep state. But Hill, a former FBI supervisory intelligence analyst, reportedly admitted he had little or no firsthand knowledge of any alleged “deep state” scandals.

Instead, his own right-wing biases were revealed, most notably on social media. In one since-deleted tweet discovered by Rolling Stone, Hill wrote “Cancer! GO FASTER!” responding to a tweet from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) baselessly claiming that President Joe Biden had been diagnosed with cancer.

Hill either could not or refused to answer many questions put to him, according to transcripts reviewed by Rolling Stone.

Not to fear: Jordan, the chair of the new House Judiciary’s “weaponization” subcommittee, opened his first hearing vowing that he had heard from “dozens and dozens” of whistleblowers about “the political nature at the Justice Department.” Trump and his backers, including lawmakers like "conspiracy curious" GOP Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley (as Rolling Stone describes him) have reportedly been beating the bushes for the groomed whistleblowers — and covering their expenses.

But so far, Republicans have brought only three of them to Capitol Hill for questioning, and no others have yet been scheduled, the Rolling Stone reported...

And what of those three "whistleblowers" (including Hill) "deep state" aficionado "Gym" Jordan has brought in for questioning?

A trio of witnesses being called as "whistleblowers" by the GOP committee investigating the "weaponization" of government were paid off by a Trump ally and spread conspiracy theories, reported The New York Times on Thursday.

"The first three witnesses to testify privately before the new Republican-led House committee investigating the 'weaponization' of the federal government have offered little firsthand knowledge of any wrongdoing or violation of the law, according to Democrats on the panel who have listened to their accounts," reported Luke Broadwater and Adam Goldman. "Instead, the trio appears to be a group of aggrieved former F.B.I. officials who have trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories, including about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, and received financial support from a top ally of former President Donald J. Trump."

"The roster of witnesses, whose interviews and statements are detailed in a 316-page report compiled by Democrats that was obtained by The New York Times, suggests that Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chairman of the panel, has so far relied on people who do not meet the definition of a whistle-blower and who have engaged in partisan conduct that calls into question their credibility," said the report. "And it raises questions about whether Republicans, who have said that investigating the Biden administration is a top goal, will be able to deliver on their ambitious plans to uncover misdeeds at the highest levels."

The three witnesses in question, per the report, are "George Hill, a retired F.B.I. supervisory intelligence analyst from the bureau’s Boston field office; Stephen Friend, a former special agent who worked in the Daytona Beach office; and Garret O’Boyle, a special agent from the field office in Wichita, Kan., who has been suspended."

They have promoted conspiracy theories; Hill wrote on Twitter that the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was a "set up." Meanwhile, O'Boyle and Friend have admitted to receiving financial aid from Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Trump associate who has testified in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case...

One positive note, beyond the entertainment value, is that more and more crackpot Trumpist FBI agents are being exposed/ retired/ suspended, though an undetermined number are still in place ready to hamper the Justice Department in its pursuit of the Malignant Loser.  It goes without saying that coup- friendly conspiracy theorists have no place in government, particularly in DOJ.

Bigger picture:  as far as who's leading this clown show "deep state investigation," could you imagine anyone more risibly inappropriate that "Gym" Jordan, who ignored on-going sexual abuse while serving as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987-1995?  His use of a "deep state" conspiracy model was even trotted out by "Gym" to explain that scandal:

... Is it true that Jordan blamed the "deep state" for this scandal?

Yes. Jordan suggested that the allegations of abuse, and his role in hiding them, are meant to thwart his race for Speaker of the House after Paul Ryan steps down this coming January, and to retaliate for Jordan grilling Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a recent House hearing. It is difficult to believe, however that Rod Rosenstein went back in time four decades to create thousands of victims of abuse in order to harm Jordan's race for the speakership forty years later...

What a clown.  What a show.

BONUS:  It seems one of the agents was a "Friend" of Russia --

 

New Dem report says one of Jim Jordan's alleged whistleblowers granted interviews with both Sputnik News and Russia Today *while still employed by FBI.*

He acknowledged they were "propaganda" outlets. pic.twitter.com/lSMn2koR1c

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) March 3, 2023

(Image: "Gym," ready for his takedown)