EXCLUSIVE - The FBI's 'abuse of power': Three whistleblowers will lay out how bureau 'inflated domestic extremism' stats and prioritized January 6 defendants over child predators in bombshell hearing
Rep. Jim Jordan secured the in-person testimony of former FBI officials Garret O'Boyle, Steve Friend and Marcus Allen - all who have been suspended for vocalizing concerns
The witnesses will detail on Thursday how they have been 'retaliated' against by the FBI for speaking out
The officials say the FBI has inflated statistics on 'domestic violent extremism' to fit the Biden administration's political narratives
By KELLY LACO, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF POLITICS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 18:00 BST, 15 May 2023 | UPDATED: 19:39 BST, 15 May 2023
Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee and head of the select committee, has secured the in-person testimony of suspended FBI special agents Garret O'Boyle and Steve Friend, as well as former FBI State Operations Specialist Marcus Allen. President of Empower Oversight Tristan Leavitt will also be testifying.
The hearing is set to be held at 9 a.m. ET Thursday and will focus on the 'abuses of power' the former officials witnessed. They will be given the opportunity to detail how they have been 'retaliated' against by the FBI, according to a source familiar.
The O'Boyle and Friend participated in a closed door transcribed interview in February conducted by the select committee.
According to notes from the interview, the former agents specifically expressed concerns with instructions from FBI leadership that they focus on pursuing 'domestic violent extremism' probes and disregard standard investigative procedures in January 6 cases.
In addition, the former officials told the committee that they were instructed to pursue Jan. 6 investigations over child sex crime cases, because they were 'no longer a priority.'
Specifically, the former agents accuse the FBI of inflating statistics on 'domestic violent extremism' to fit the Biden administration's political narrative that extremism is on the rise nationwide.
'The manipulative casefile practice creates false and misleading crime statistics, constituting false official federal statements,' Friend wrote in an affidavit.
'Instead of hundreds of investigations stemming from an isolated incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, FBI and DOJ officials point to significant increases in domestic violent extremism and terrorism around the United States.'
Friend had his security clearance revoked last September after he vocalized concerns to his superiors, which he described in an affidavit as being a clear retaliatory move by the agency against him. O'Boyle's clearance has also been stripped.
Allen, who has not yet sat before the select committee, is expected to present new evidence to the lawmakers Thursday.
The hearing comes after Republicans published a 1,000 page report last November on 'FBI and DOJ Politicization.'
The report included information on disclosures from 14 whistleblowers that revealed FBI leadership demonstrated a 'political bias' against conservatives, manipulated domestic violent extremism statistics for 'political purposes' and downplayed the investigation into Hunter Biden - among other alleged abuses of power.
One of the largest accusations lobbed at the FBI is that the agency has worked to force out conservative employees.
During the select committee's first hearing in February, the lawmakers dug in on that issue specifically.
Jordan said the hearing was being conducted to shine a light on disclosures by 'good, brave FBI agents who are willing to come forward and give us the truth.'
GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., testified as the select committee's featured witnesses.
The senators - both of which who have led the charge on exposing internal DOJ and FBI issues - detailed complaints by whistleblowers that they found important enough to bring to light.
'It's clear to me that the Justice Department and the FBI are suffering from a political infection that, if it's not defeated, will cause the American people no longer to trust these storied institutions,' Grassley said during the hearing.
Johnson and Grassley also wrote to the FBI last fall, demanding the agency reinstate Friend's security clearance because he is protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act.
'Accordingly, the FBI should immediately cease the disciplinary actions it is actively taking to punish Special Agent Friend for his protected whistleblowing activity,' they wrote.
The FBI has pushed back on accusations that the agency is 'politicized.'
Wray said at a congressional hearing last month that the FBI has been 'unfairly criticized' and that his agents are doing hard work on behalf of the American people.
Democrats slammed the hearing, and the select committee more generally, as an effort by Republicans to 'showcase conspiracy theories.'