The FBI, Conservative Viewpoints, and the Search For Jan. 6th Truths

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File

A year ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his agency had not “seen any evidence of any anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th.”

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“That doesn’t mean we’re not looking and we’ll continue to look, but at the moment, we have not seen that,” Wray said at the time.

This attitude — in light of just how confusing things were on that day (there was cosplaying going on all over the place apparently) — looks a bit strange in retrospect as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) began banging away in January trying to get answers about whether or not federal agents may have been embedded and encouraging the crowd and Republicans continue to express disbelief that the official story is as they’ve been told. In fact, 55% of Republicans polled in a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey (take it for what it’s worth, polls being what they are) “said they believed the riot was led by violent left-wing protesters.

Now, according to a letter sent to Wray by Republican Sen. Jim Jordan (OH), there may be even more reason to question the early official findings of the FBI (emphasis added).

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Multiple former FBI officials are coming forward with information suggesting the bureau is “purging” employees with conservative viewpoints, according to House Judiciary Committee Republicans.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the panel, sent a letter to Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday outlining new allegations that relate to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“In one such example, the FBI targeted and suspended the security clearance of a retired war servicemember who had disclosed personal views that the FBI was not being entirely forthcoming about the events of January 6. The FBI questioned the whistleblower’s allegiance to the United States despite the fact that the whistleblower honorably served in the United States military for several years — including deployments in Kuwait and Iraq — valiantly earning multiple military commendation medals,” a press release for the letter states.

“In addition, another whistleblower, who has since left the FBI, has informed us that faced retaliation for criticizing the FBI in an anonymous survey circulated by the [REDACTED] to employees following January 6. The FBI allegedly escalated an adverse personnel action against this employee after [REDACTED] commented on the survey, which sought feedback about the [REDACTED] actions ‘during the recent crisis/command post’ event. The employee, too, was never disciplined or reprimanded until after [REDACTED] criticized the FBI,” the letter reads.

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Now, if these whistleblowers are telling the truth, political bias of a federal police force is certainly disturbing. But the allegation that the agency might be politically biased enough to lie by omission about what happened on January 6th — an event Democrat party members have repeatedly insisted was a coup attempting to undermine the peaceful exchange of power and was, indeed, a threat to the very core of American governance — is damning indeed.

Wray has already been called on the carpet by law professor Jonathan Turley for hyperoble in calling the protests on January 6th “domestic terrorism,” so it’s at least arguable he’s not immune to making some lapses in judgment when it comes to what happened that day.

Legal scholar Jonathan Turley criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray for calling the Jan. 6 riot “domestic terrorism” in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“I believe that Director Wray’s characterization of the riot as domestic terrorism is overbroad and unsustainable,” said Turley. Wray called the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol, where some participants broke through police barriers and destroyed federal property, an act of “domestic terrorism,” in March 2021.

None of the protestors committed acts meeting the legal definition of terrorism, Turley claimed.

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Perhaps it’s time to discover if Wray has any additional information to add about the people on the grounds of the Capitol that day, and the ones who ultimately breached the building. The FBI was, by Wray’s own admission, going to continue to look into it. The January 6th committee ought to call him up and ask him what the agency has found in the months after he made his orginal statement. They should, but don’t be surprised if they don’t.

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