Empower Oversight provided the following quotes from its clients to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Chuck Grassley read them into the record of today’s meeting on the nomination of Kash Patel to be the Director of the FBI. The quotes name officials responsible for targeting and purging FBI employees with disfavored views. Many of the FBI officials responsible for the purge have now been held accountable by new Justice Department leadership:
From a former FBI employee targeted for his First Amendment activity:
“On January 6, 2021, I took leave and went to see the President speak on the Ellipse. Later, my wife and I were among a crowd southwest of the Capitol. Even though we were involved in no violence, never set foot on the steps leading to the Capitol building, and never entered it, I self- reported my presence to the FBI after seeing the violence in news reports. The FBI did nothing at first, but more than a year later suspended my security clearance. Under the supervision of Jeff Veltri and Dena Perkins, investigators questioned my co-workers about whether I ever vocalized support for President Trump and objections to the COVID-19 vaccine. I was forced to take early retirement to pay billsand have essentially been sidelined from employment opportunities due to FBI abuse of the clearance system to target me for my political beliefs.”
From an FBI Security Division (‘SecD’) supervisor and registered Democrat:
“As a SecD employee, I witnessed abuses committed against multiple employees by FBI senior leaders, particularly by Jeff Veltri and Dena Perkins. I also saw SecD retaliate against five of its own employees for protesting theseunlawful practices. Because I spoke out against these abuses, Perkins and Timothy Dunham suspended my security clearance, costing me my job and continuing employment, totaling approximately $700,000 in lost wages and retirement benefits.”
From a former Security Division (‘SecD’) employee who suffered reprisal for objecting to abuses of the security clearance process:
“Although some FBI leaders who abused the clearance process like Dena Perkins and Jeff Veltri have already left, they were not alone. Timothy Dunham approved Perkins’s wrongdoing and engaged in his own. While most SecD employees are fantastic, some FBI leaders still remain within the Security Integrity and Investigation Section who will continue this abuse of the process.”
From the FBI Security Division (‘SecD’’) adjudicator on the Marcus Allen file:
“After I was assigned to review Marcus Allen’s security clearance case, I noticed the file was missing relevant communications of Jeff Vetri, who ordered the opening of the case, Dena Perkins, and FBI attorney Tasha Gibbs.Allen was entitled to those communications which were evidence that his clearance suspension was retaliatory. I asked Lawrence Buckley for protection from retaliation and suggested Gibbs and Perkins recuse themselves from theAllen case. Gibbs recused herself, but Perkins was present and actively participated in my subsequent brief of the case. After the brief, I was told the Assistant Director was in favor of Allen’s reinstatement and that Perkins hadfinally recused herself from the case. Shortly after I completed the vast majority of work on the communication recommending Allen’s reinstatement, the Allen case was reassigned to another adjudicator, and I was transferred to a different unit apparently in reprisal for reporting the wrongdoing in the Allen suspension. I soon resigned from the FBI to avoid further retaliation. I believe Veltri, Perkins, and Gibbs were responsible for retaliating against Allen, and that Giulio Arseni, Perkins, and Gibbs were likely responsible for the retaliation against me.”
Marcus Allen
“Jeff Veltri and Dena Perkins caused the suspension of my security clearance because I questioned whether the FBI Director was truthful to Congress and whether the FBI was obeying the law and Constitution in the January 6, 2021investigations. Their actions left me without pay for over two years while other FBI officials prevented me from having other income. Although the FBIultimately reinstated my clearance and settled my lawsuit, my career at the FBI was over and the financial and emotional damage to me and my family will never be completely restored.”
Garret O’Boyle
“I faced retaliation from junior, mid, and senior level ‘leaders’ in the FBI. More than 29 months later, I’m still indefinitely suspended without pay and benefits. Other whistleblowers have since confirmed that the FBI intentionally stranded me in the middle of a move and withheld our possessions to maximize the pain of my suspension. A new era of accountability and true whistleblower protection at the FBI is long overdue. FBI officials like Sean Clark, Sean Fitzgerald, Jeff Berkebile, Dena Perkins, Jeff Veltri, Jennifer Moore, Michael Schneider, Timothy Dunham, and other leadership up to Christopher Wray, are responsible for what happened to me and my family. Ensuring that they no longer work at the FBI is not retribution, it’s responsible leadership.”
Steve Friend
“Jaqueline Maguire promoted to the upper echelons of the FBI after sending federal agents to arrest nonviolent Catholic Pro-life protestor Mark Houck at gunpoint. As someone who lost my career for blowing the whistle on thiskind of abusive and needlessly risky tactics for cooperative subjects, I was offended by her being rewarded rather thanbeing held accountable. Her dismissal is a small step towards ending the FBI’s weaponization and should have come sooner.”
Mike Zummer
“After witnessing federal prosecutors favor a sexual predator district attorney—who used the power of his office to sexually abuse vulnerable women—I reported their wrongdoing to the presiding federal judge. Although theallegations were not classified, the FBI suspended and later revoked my security clearance. The U.S. Attorney responsible for the misconduct was named by President Biden to lead DOJ’s Criminal Division, and the FBI SpecialAgent in Charge responsible for the FBI’s retaliation against me was promoted to be the third-highest FBI official. (He soon retired after he harassed a young female subordinate.) Meanwhile, I went through an eight-year process tobe reinstated only to have the Biden DOJ affirm the FBI’s revocation of my security clearance during December 2024, finalizing my removal from the FBI.”