Do you support Trump? Do you have skepticism over the COVID vaccine? Have you been to a gun rights event? Insi – Daily Mail

By Jon Michael Raasch, Political Reporter In Washington, D.C., For Dailymail.Com 22:05 11 Jun 2024, updated 22:05 11 Jun 2024

A longtime FBI employee's Top Secret security clearance was revoked after his pro-Trump, pro-gun and personal concerns over COVID vaccines were revealed, says his attorney.

During the background check process to renew his clearance, friends and family confirmedthe 12-year FBI employee did support Trumpand attended a Second Amendment and the January 6 rally.

His security clearance was later revoked by the FBI, according to his lawyer Tristan Leavitt, who provided internal Department of Justice (DOJ) documents revealing the political questions DailyMail.com.

Leavitt, who has represented multiple government whistleblowers in the past, subsequently sent a letter to the DOJ's inspector general asking why such political questions were necessary for the security clearance - and whether that process has been tainted.

'Instead of limiting its investigation to legitimate issues, [the FBI's security division] acted as if support for President Trump, objecting to COVID-19 vaccinations, or lawfully attending a protest was the equivalent of being a member of Al Qaeda or the Chinese Communist Party,' Leavitt said.

The review allegedly came after the former employee told his bosses that he had been at the January 6 rally.

Leavitt runsEmpower Oversight, a nonprofit which specializes in whistleblower cases, and he told the outlet that the questions are tantamount to internal FBI political bias against conservatives.

He also claimed that the former FBI employee he represents did nothing illegal on January 6.

Further, memos revealed by Empower Oversight show that FBI Security Division workers conducted multiple interviews to ascertain the politics of the employee who self-disclosed his January 6 attendance.

Those memos show witnesses were asked whether the employee ever vocalized 'support for President Trump' and whether he voiced 'objections to Covid-19 vaccination.'

The documents also show some workers were asked whetherthe FBI employee 'attended the Richmond Lobby Day event,' which is a gun-rights event.

'The FBl's intentions are made clear by the questions it chose to put in black and white on a government document,' Leavitt said.

He called the revocation of his client's clearance 'shocking' and an'abuse of authority and a violation of our client's rights under the First Amendment,' in his letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Sources familiar with the matter told Just The News that multiple instances of politically motivated clearance reviews have occurred, indicating that Leavitt's client is not the only who has faced repercussions for his stances on Trump, vaccines and guns.

The letter to Horowitz details how the former FBI employee received positive performance reviews and monetary compensation for his work.

The witnesses who were interviewed for this former employee's clearance told investigators that though he expressed Republican views he did not pose a threat.

One investigator wrote down during an interview the former FBI employee: 'Very significantly supported [Trump], would listen to talk shows. Trump did not lose. Dems stole it. Militant point of view. Never implied would do anything aggressive/physical.'

Another investigator noted in a different witness interview that the former employee 'had right wing views' adding 'nothing extreme.'

Those interviews also noted the FBI employee was against masking and vaccines.

Though, at the time of these interviews in April 2022, mandatory vaccine requirements were facing legal hurdles - and the federal government at the time was not allowed to enforce such requirements on FBI employees.

And other interviews with witnesses revealed that though the former FBI employee was a 'gun nut' that 'went to all 2nd Amendment gatherings' he did not display a 'promotion of violence.'

'I write today to formally disclose to you on our client's behalf shocking documents in [the FBI Security Division's] investigative file that evidence an abuse of authority and a violation of our client's rights under the First Amendment,' Leavitt's letter said.

'The documents appear to demonstrate [the FBI Security Division's] political bias and abuse of the security clearance process to purge the FBI of employees who expressed disfavored political views or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine requirement.'

Leavitt concluded his letter asking Horowitz to open an investigation into the matter, which would provide insight to the public on whether political preference and personal health decisions play a role in FBI agent's security clearance screenings.

See the rest here:

Do you support Trump? Do you have skepticism over the COVID vaccine? Have you been to a gun rights event? Insi - Daily Mail

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