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Will the GOP Hold the FBI Accountable?

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

To say that the FBI continues to be exposed as a politically-motivated corrupt arm of the federal government is, at this point, the understatement of the century. With the recent revelations coming from whistleblowers and its mission to get former President Donald Trump on full display, it is difficult to argue that the Bureau has grown even more tyrannical.

Of course, anyone who knows a bit of history knows the agency has been rife with corruption since its inception. The days of J. Edgar Hoover are filled with stories of questionable activities. But now that the FBI’s malfeasance is coming to light, Republicans have been on the warpath – or have they? While GOP politicians are talking a big game about reining in the Bureau, will they actually do anything if and when they retake control of the House and possibly the Senate?

The latest in a series of problematic revelations about the FBI showed that the agency is allegedly carrying out a “purge” of employees who happen to have conservative views and is retaliating against whistleblowers who have played a role in exposing its corruption to members of Congress like House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

During a conversation with Fox News Digital, Jordan said over a dozen whistleblowers have shared their stories with him and other GOP members of Congress who have been investigating “serious allegations of abuse and misconduct within the senior leadership of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

In a letter, the lawmaker told FBI executive assistant director of the Human Resources branch about the reports of retaliation and other examples of misconduct.

“During the course of this investigation, we have received protected whistleblower disclosures that the FBI is engaging in a ‘purge’ of employees with conservative views by revoking their security clearances and indefinitely suspending these employees,” Jordan wrote, also pointing out that “many of the formal notices” for these actions had been signed by the assistant director.

There have been plenty of other allegations of misconduct on the part of the Bureau. One whistleblower told Jordan about the Justice Department’s plan to apply a threat tag label against parents who supposedly presented threats to school board meetings and faculty and also to “prosecute them when appropriate.”

Agents have also told Jordan that the assistant director of human resources had been “involved with the security clearance revocations for those employees targeted for their conservative views.”

During an interview on “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) slammed the Bureau over the news about purging conservative employees.

“The FBI has been weaponized and politicized to go after Democrats’ political opponents. And, of course, most recently, the most recently, the outrageous raid of Mar-a-Lago targeting President Biden’s most likely 2024 opponent,” she said. “And that, of course, is President Donald Trump. There have been over 14 whistleblowers that have reached out to House Republicans, specifically Ranking Member Jim Jordan, our leading Republican on the Judiciary Committee, saying that the FBI is targeting conservatives internally… So, again, this is politicization.”

Stefanik explained that when the GOP retakes the House, “the subpoenas are coming” and that Jordan “has already requested Attorney General Merrick Garland preserve the documents and they will be called to testify because we will ensure that the FBI is accountable to the American people.”

This sounds nice, but we already know how this will play out. Garland and the others who are compelled to testify will hem and haw and duck and dodge every question Republicans ask. Sure, they might get some nuggets that might be useful politically, but other than that: Bupkus.

In fact, at least one individual sees that the GOP has no real plan for taking on the corruption and bias in the FBI when they have power. Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam made an appearance on “Fox & Friends First” in which he pointed out that Republicans don’t have a strategy for taking on the agency.

“We know that the top of the FBI since at least 2015 has been ideologically left, and they have gone after President Trump based on the fact that he’s conservative,” Gilliam said. “That’s basically it. And he’s not liked among the left. But here’s one thing that’s very important, especially about Congressman Jordan, when he comes out and he says these things, he is correct. But I can go back to 2017 and Jim Jordan is saying the exact same thing.”

The former agent concluded: “The problem here is that we rely on the GOP largely to go and do battle with these leftists, and they have no strategic plan and nothing is being done.”

So – what can we expect when the GOP is back on top in the House? I’d say we can expect a whole lot of political theater, but not much else. Even if they also control the Senate, it won’t be easy passing legislation that could rein in the FBI with the geriatric authoritarian still occupying the White House.

This will be yet another reason why it is so important that Democrats are not in control of the legislative and executive branches after 2024.

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