Terminating Dissent: FBI Merges Insider Threat Training with Whistleblower Training

  • by:
  • Source: UncoverDC
  • 09/19/2023

Documents provided to UncoverDC from a whistleblower at the FBI reveal that the Bureau has combined the "Insider Threat" annual training module with the "Whistleblower" training module. This is as the Bureau takes further actions against legally recognized whistleblowers who have provided protected disclosures to Congress. Bureau sources tell UncoverDC that this is the first time FBI training has combined the two modules. It is perceived as a subtle but unmistakable sign from the FBI that protected whistleblower disclosures are considered in tandem with Insider Threat actions. "Unauthorized Disclosure" is now listed on the wheel of potential insider threats, something new to the training.

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The group of whistleblowers, nicknamed "The Suspendables" by its members, contacted Congressman Jim Jordan last year. They have provided a myriad of information to Congress on the Bureau's actions and policies, many of which are antithetical to its mission statement.

It is thought that the disclosures have led to the formation of a new committee, the "Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government," after Republicans took the majority in the House of Representatives in November.

Among the disclosures already made public are several instances in which the Bureau has deviated from standard procedure to target Americans with counterintelligence investigations. Also disclosed was the fact that the FBI had its agents change the characterizations of J6 cases to make it appear as though there are thousands of cases of domestic white extremist violence spread across the country, when in actuality, nearly all those investigations originated from the incident at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The whistleblowers also provided an unclassified memo circulated within the Bureau that identifies common patriotic symbols and sayings with Militia Violent Extremism. That memo lists Ashli Babbitt as a potential martyr and a group called American Contingency, founded by father and special forces veteran Mike Glover, as a "militia network." The group had been unjustly targeted—and cleared—by the FBI before the publication of the guidance.

The disclosures also revealed that the FBI directed agents to use a tailored "threat tag" to attach to cases involving investigations of concerned parents at school board meetings. This information came as Merrick Garland testified in the Senate to the contrary and after the National School Board Association faced harsh criticism for a letter it sent to the Biden Administration requesting federal help to target concerned parents. It was later uncovered that the White House communicated with the NSBA as they drafted the letter.

Further inflaming the issue, AG Garland admitted under oath in a senate hearing that he didn't corroborate or investigate incidents contained in the letter to validate whether they were true. One of the incidents mentioned in the NSBA communication referenced an angry father in VA. His daughter had been sexually assaulted in the bathroom by a student purporting to be transgender. It was later reported that the school board had lied about that incident when speaking to the girl's parents and that the student who assaulted their daughter had done it again at another school once he was transferred.

Two in the group of whistleblowers, Kyle Seraphin and Steve Friend, have gone public. They have been vocal about the retaliation they have faced at the hands of the Bureau, having been indefinitely suspended without pay and losing their security clearances. Neither had any instances of wrongdoing while at the FBI, and Seraphin had received accolades several months before he was placed on suspension. Recently the FBI denied a request from Friend to obtain paid employment outside of the government. Both have been held in limbo without income since last year as they await responses from the OPR on unrelated (and unfounded) accusations.

In August of 2022, as word spread that there was dissent within the rank and file at the FBI, Attorney General Garland released a letter dictating to employees (who are all potential whistleblowers) that they were only to speak to the Office of Legislative Affairs to ensure their messages get to Congress. This is in direct contravention of the whistleblower statute and prompted several letters from concerned Senators and Congressional representatives.

Further exacerbating the issue, the FBI's Human Resources, Training, and Security Clearance responsibilities are lumped into one department headed by one individual. Jennifer Moore is the Executive Assistant Director of the Human Resources Branch at the FBI. She is on the list of witnesses Jim Jordan (R, OH) is requesting testimony from during this session of Congress, as there are concerns she has been politically targeting individuals at the Bureau who speak out about malfeasance.

Whistleblowers have also provided UncoverDC with many of her departmental emails, where she discusses her support of the COVID vaccine and shares personal details of her life with her employees. Moore came from the private sector in 1995, where she was a manager with an international marketing firm and has a degree in business management. The emails, sometimes written with juvenile emojis and canned jokes, are a further indication of the politicization of the FBI and its support of what would be considered "left-wing" causes. Curiously, in one email, Moore appears to release classified information to her staff. The email system she used to compose and send the message is unclassified.

She also appears to imply that she is enthusiastic about the arrest of two subjects, both apprehended in "relation to the assaults on federal officers" on January 6. She includes U.S. Capitol Police officer Sicknick in her description of the arrests, even though officer Sicknick passed away on January 7 from unrelated natural causes. You can read those emails here.

 

Since March 2021, the Judiciary Committee has sent seventy-seven letters to the FBI, DOJ, and various US Attorney's offices across the country seeking information for their oversight. Nearly all of them have gone unanswered. Just this week, congressman Jim Jordan subpoenaed both FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland to answer a myriad of questions regarding the weaponization of the Justice Department against American citizens. On a newly formed Twitter account, the committee has also announced its first hearing, to be held on Thursday, February 9, at noon.

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