The “weaponized” FBI is “targeting” innocent Americans and retaliating against whistleblowers, according to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who joined House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for a Thursday morning press conference ahead of scheduled testimony from three FBI whistleblowers before the committee.
“The FBI has been victimized by political capture, and that politicization has manifested in the targeting of Americans who never deserved to have the government weaponized against them,” Gaetz stated. “Whistleblowers saw those bad acts. They stepped forward and they were retaliated against and crushed as a consequence.”
BREAKING: At today’s @Weaponization press conference, I showed film from multiple depositions conducted over the past few months of FBI whistleblowers detailing how the agency is targeting and retaliating against those who speak up.
The footage is shocking. 👇 pic.twitter.com/rFJRvLu1yJ
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 18, 2023
Gaetz played a clip from the deposition of Garret O’Boyle, who served in the Marines and as “a local cop.”
“Do you believe that the FBI has become political?” O’Boyle was asked.
“I do,” he replied. “I think most people out in the field [are] trying to avoid that politicization of the agency, which is good, but it’s gotten to the point, it seems to me, that it’s like a cancerous point where the FBI has let itself become enveloped in this politicization and weaponization that I don’t know how to even begin to fix it.”
“One group that saw that weaponization work against them were Catholics,” Gaetz said. “The FBI field office in Richmond put out a memo saying that ‘violent extremists would find the Catholic ideology attractive and would attempt to connect with Catholic adherents.’ That ‘extremists would show an interest in Catholic congregations over the next twelve to twenty-four months leading up to the Presidential election.'”
“Isn’t that an interesting coincidence?” Gaetz asked.
“The memo calls for the FBI to develop sources within Catholic congregations to try to obtain information about those folks,” he continued.
The outspoken lawmaker also pointed to the treatment of parents who spoke out at school board meetings, including former FBI employee Steve Friend who was “ridiculed” at his office after attending one such meeting.
Those who attended the infamous Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., and “committed no crimes” also experienced the weaponization of the FBI, Gaetz said before playing a clip from FBI whistleblower George Hill, who said his office couldn’t receive video evidence of accused protestors because there may be undercover officers or confidential human sources on the tapes mingling with the crowd.
And Gaetz didn’t slow down, providing damning receipts that should shock the nation.
“A lot of the rot, the committee has learned, emerges out of headquarters, out of the Washington field office,” Gaetz said. “[A whistleblower] described the conflict that existed as the Washington field office put pressure on other field offices around the country to engage in law enforcement work without predication.”
The comments follow a new, 80-page report from the committee detailing “government abuse, misallocation of resources, and retaliation” at the FBI.
Gaetz’s communications director, Joel Valdez, posted testimony given by O’Boyle “on how the agency rendered his family HOMELESS for speaking up against the FBI’s efforts to weaponize the bureau against Americans.”
POWERFUL testimony from FBI Whistleblower Garret O’Boyle on how the agency rendered his family HOMELESS for speaking up against the FBI’s efforts to weaponize the bureau against Americans:
“In weaponized fashion, the FBI allowed me to accept orders to a position halfway across… pic.twitter.com/BTZm3z1oZN
— Joel Valdez (@realJoelValdez) May 18, 2023
“In weaponized fashion, the FBI allowed me to accept orders to a position halfway across the country,” O’Boyle told the committee. “They allowed us to sell my family’s home.”
“They ordered me to report to the new unit when our youngest daughter was two weeks old. Then, on my first day on the new assignment, they suspended me – rendering my family homeless,” he said. “They refused to release our goods, including our clothes for weeks. All I wanted to do was serve my country by stopping bad guys and protecting the innocent.”
“To my chagrin, bad guys have begun running parts of the government, making it difficult to continue serving this nation and protecting the innocent,” O’Boyle stated. “But I for one will never stop trying and I will never forget my oath.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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