The FBI targeted pro-life groups, Catholics and parents attending school board meetings with investigations in an effort to “inflate” the perception that they were a domestic terrorism threat, according to new whistleblower reports.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, detailed the reports at a news conference Thursday morning just minutes before three FBI whistleblowers were scheduled to testify before the committee. Jordan detailed whistleblower allegations that the FBI’s Washington, DC office pressured the rest of the organization toward a political agenda.
“If you’re a parent attending a school board meeting; if you’re a pro-lifer praying in a clinic, or if you’re a Catholic simply going to Mass, you’re a target of the government, a target of the FBI.”, Jordan said, adding that officials tried to “inflate” their investigations to treat them as cases of domestic and violent extremism.
Jordan says his committee spoke with more than two dozen FBI whistleblowers in compiling its report. Three of those whistleblowers are scheduled to testify publicly before the commission Thursday morning.
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Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, detailed claims by FBI whistleblowers who said the government targeted pro-life groups, Catholics and parents attending school board meetings. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Whistleblowers also faced backlash from the FBI after speaking out, they say.
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Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., also detailed the whistleblower who claims the Washington, D.C., field office is the source of much of the “rot” within the organization.
“A lot of the rot, the committee has learned, comes from headquarters, from the Washington field office,” Gaetz said. “[A whistleblower] described the conflict that existed when the Washington field office pressured other field offices around the country to participate in law enforcement work without predictions.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the FBI for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., detailed claims by FBI whistleblowers that the Washington field office was the source of much of the “rot” in the organization. ((Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images))
The three whistleblowers scheduled to testify at Thursday’s hearing include FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle; former FBI Special Agent Steve Friend and FBI Staff Operations Specialist Marcus Allen.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter for Fox News Digital who covers national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
