An FBI agent and purported whistleblower said on Thursday that he would discourage other agents from stepping forward about alleged abuses by the federal law enforcement agency, claiming that their lives would be “destroyed” if they spoke up.
Former FBI agent Garret O’Boyle, who came to prominence this year for testifying before the House Weaponization Committee about alleged politically motivated abuses in his former agency, told reporters that he would discourage other agents from speaking out because of the consequences to their personal lives.
“I would tell them first to pray about it, long and hard,” O’Boyle said in remarks reported by The Daily Caller. “And I would tell them I could take it to Congress for them, or I could put them in touch with Congress. But I would advise them not to do it.”
O’Boyle was one of three FBI agents to testify publicly before the Weaponization Committee, attesting that his family was left temporarily homeless after a suspension from the law enforcement agency which he claims was in retaliation for his criticisms of their conduct.
Republican North Dakota Rep. Kelly Armstrong asked O’Boyle, “And how do you think that solves being able to shine light on corruption, weaponization, any kind of misconduct that exists with the American people?”
“It doesn’t solve it. But the FBI will crush you. This government will crush you, and your family, if you try to expose the truth about thing that they are doing that are wrong. We are all examples of that,” he answered as he pointed to two other agents who were testifying.
Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) has claimed that there are 12 additional whistleblowers who have approached him with concerns and have asked him to remain anonymous for fear of persecution.
However, the status of these individuals as “whistleblowers” has been challenged by subcommittee Democrats, who published a document over 300 pages long arguing that the former agents in contact with the Committee leadership do not meet the criteria of whistleblowers.
This issue became the subject of a contentious exchange earlier on Thursday in which Jordan bickered with Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) over the appropriateness of the “whistleblower” designation in a cacaphony of congressional crosstalk.
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