Now, another whistleblower has come forward with some concerning news about how the FBI was dealing with the investigation into Jan. 6 compared to other riots.
According to an affidavit from that whistleblower that went to the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, and the Justice Department's Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, the FBI employee said that Deputy Director Paul Abbate threatened to fire agents and other bureau employees who questioned the differences in response to the U.S. Capitol riot in 2021 and the George Floyd riots in 2020.
"Abbate told the audience that anyone who questions the FBI's response or his decisions regarding the response to Jan. 6 did not belong in the FBI and should find a different job - or something to that effect," according to the affidavit.
In a letter accompanying the affidavit, the whistleblower's lawyer, Tristan Leavitt, explained: "Abbate had heard that some employees were contrasting the FBI's response to Jan. 6 with its failure to protect federal personnel and property, or to aggressively investigate interstate conspiracies and resulting damage, during the civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd in 2020.".
The whistleblower said that Abbate claimed they were applying the appropriate resources in each matter the secure teleconference, known as a Director SVTC. According to the affidavit, Mr. Abbate said that if an FBI agent did not agree with management's view of the response, the agent should call him personally, and he would set them straight.
Mr. Leavitt said in his letter to congressional lawmakers and Mr. Horowitz that "Abbate's threat to employees was witnessed by numerous other FBI employees and constitutes evidence of intent to retaliate against any dissent. This evidence can be independently corroborated by dozens, if not hundreds, of other FBI employees."
"Employees are free to take any concerns they have to FBI leaders, including the Deputy Director. Any suggestion Deputy Abbate threatened employees who disagreed about the handling of January 6 cases is categorically false," they said in the statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment