House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) kicked off a hearing on Thursday featuring a pair of FBI "whistleblowers" alleging corruption and political misconduct at the agency as part of his investigation into the "weaponization" of government against Trump and his supporters.
But things got off to a bad start when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) pointed out to one of the witnesses, Miami Field Office Agent Steve Friend, had his security clearance revoked for a reason that might make him a less than credible witness.
"You ... claim that your top secret security clearance was improperly revoked," said Wasserman Schultz. "Yet an independent investigation concluded that you demonstrated a number of security concerns, which included that you refused to execute a court-ordered arrest warrant, and when you downloaded documents from intelligence systems to an unauthorized removable flash drive."
Wasserman Schultz continued, "the cherry on top could be your unauthorized recording of executive management, which, as I'm sure you know, violates Florida law, along with your unsanctioned interviews with Sputnik News, established by the Russian government in 2014 and fully owned by the Kremlin and Putin's cronies."
"I think it's clear who is weaponizing government," concluded Wasserman Schultz, as Jordan moved to give the floor to a different representative.
In addition to all of these allegations, Friend also is accused of promoting conspiracy theories about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jordan's other witness, Agent Marcus Allen, also had his security clearance rejected for, among other reasons, refusing to relay information to other agents about January 6 suspects.
\u201cWasserman Schultz highlights that an independent investigation backed up the decision to revoke Mr Friend's security clearance and details some of the reasons\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1684415520
