An FBI employee finds himself with a lot of spare time after the agency revoked his security clearance for his conservative views. During a top-secret security clearance review for a longtime employee, FBI officials questioned witnesses about the employee’s support for former President Donald Trump, his views on the COVID-19 vaccine, and his attendance at a Second Amendment rally, as per internal memos.
These inquiries led to a complaint to the Justice Department’s internal watchdog, alleging political bias within the bureau. The employee’s security clearance was revoked months later following confirmation of his support for Trump, gun rights, and concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a letter to the DOJ inspector general, Tristan Leavitt, the FBI employee’s lawyer, disclosed that his client made protected whistleblower reports to Congress and the DOJ regarding politicizing the security clearance process. He claimed his client faced this process because he self-reported taking a vacation day to attend the January 6, 2021, Trump rally in Washington, D.C.
Leavitt, who leads the nonprofit Empower Oversight that supports whistleblowers, stated that his client did not commit any crimes or enter the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He argued that the security review process showed political bias against conservatives within the FBI. Leavitt wrote to the Justice Department Inspector General, Michael Horowitz, requesting an investigation. He criticized the Security Division for treating support for President Trump, opposition to COVID-19 vaccinations, or lawful protest attendance as if it were equivalent to “being a member of Al Qaeda or the Chinese Communist Party.”
The memos reveal that in spring 2022, FBI Security Division agents asked at least three witnesses if an employee, whose name and job title were redacted, had expressed support for President Trump or objections to the COVID-19 vaccine. Agents learned from at least one witness that the employee had refused the coronavirus vaccine.
The agents also questioned witnesses about whether the FBI employee had attended the Richmond Lobby Day event, a Second Amendment rally in Virginia, in January 2021. Notes from the agents described the employee as a “gun nut” but indicated that he did not promote violence.
Leavitt emphasized that the FBI’s intentions are evident from the specific questions documented in official records. His organization, which has represented IRS whistleblowers in the Hunter Biden case and several FBI personnel claiming political bias in security clearance decisions, pointed to these instances. As reported by CNN, one of those affected, FBI intelligence analyst Marcus Allen, recently had his clearance reinstated and received over two years’ worth of back pay.
The memos offered detailed insight into how the security clearance review was conducted for Leavitt’s client. Prepared questions were typed into a form for agents to ask, and agents recorded witnesses’ responses by hand below.
The handwritten notes provide significant clues into what agents considered relevant in deciding whether the FBI employee should retain his clearance. One interview noted the employee held right-wing views without extremism. In another, agents described the employee as a “definite Trump supporter” with “strong Republican values.”
In a third interview, an agent again highlighted the employee’s support for Trump, noting he listened to talk shows and believed that Democrats had stolen the 2020 election. The agent added that the employee expressed these views strongly but never suggested any intent for aggressive or physical action over them.
In response to the employee’s Second Amendment beliefs, FBI agents summarized witness responses bluntly, noting, “Gun nut, went to all Second Amendment gatherings” before adding that the employee showed no advocacy for violence.
When the FBI inquired about the employee’s views on vaccines in April 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court had invalidated vaccine mandates in corporate settings. That didn’t stop them from observing that he was not vaccinated and “very against” vaccines and masks. The agent said that while the employee displayed “no anti-FBI rhetoric,” he was connected to FBI groups that were anti-vaccine.
According to sources familiar with the matter, evidence indicates that other employees’ political views were collected during FBI security clearance reviews, indicating that this practice was not an isolated incident.
It seems almost daily that governmental agencies prove themselves as nothing more than an extension of a desperate administration. Their underhanded tactics provide real-time confirmation that Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in the halls of the Capitol.
