A new whistleblower has come forward with allegations that the FBI has been misusing its security clearance process to target employees based on their political beliefs, medical views, and ethnicity. This whistleblower, a supervisory special agent (SSA) and registered Democrat, has provided detailed disclosures to Congress, revealing a pattern of abuse within the FBI’s Security Division.

Empower Oversight, an organization dedicated to protecting whistleblowers and ensuring accountability, has brought these allegations to light in a letter to the Justice Department’s congressional oversight committees.

The whistleblower’s disclosures, submitted by Empower Oversight, describe how the FBI’s Security Division has improperly suspended or revoked the security clearances of employees based on subjective and politically motivated criteria. According to the SSA, the division’s leadership often predetermined the outcomes of clearance investigations and overruled the recommendations of line staff. This process was used as a tool to force employees out of the FBI by suspending their clearance, suspending them from duty without pay, requiring permission to take other jobs, and indefinitely delaying final clearance adjudications.

In a letter to congressional committees, Empower Oversight’s president, Tristan Leavitt, urged swift action to investigate these allegations. Leavitt wrote, “The FBI is not a private club for FBI executives to make in their own image. Empower Oversight respectfully requests that you work swiftly to independently corroborate the information in the attached disclosure with other witnesses, publicly document your findings, hold Director Wray and any responsible FBI officials accountable, and pass legislation to fix the abusive security clearance process and successfully protect future whistleblowers.”

One of the most notable cases highlighted by the whistleblower involves FBI Staff Operations Specialist (SOS) Marcus Allen. Allen had questioned whether FBI Director Christopher Wray had testified falsely to Congress and indicated he would not comply with the FBI’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Despite the Security Division staff finding insufficient grounds to suspend Allen’s security clearance, Division leadership did so anyway, claiming these issues indicated a lack of loyalty to the United States. Allen, a U.S. Marine veteran, had his clearance reinstated after Empower Oversight assisted him in filing a retaliation complaint. He was suspended without pay for over two years before his case was resolved.

The whistleblower’s disclosures also reveal that Division leadership rushed to revoke the clearances of Allen and Special Agent Steve Friend in advance of their testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. This revocation served as the basis for the FBI sharing details about their cases, some of which have since proven false. The whistleblower also disclosed that they and at least two other Security Division employees faced retaliation for raising concerns about these improper practices.

Despite congressional scrutiny over the past two years, officials responsible for these abuses remain in senior positions within the FBI. Leavitt’s letter questions why Director Wray has allowed these officials to remain unaccountable and calls for immediate action to address this systemic issue.

The new whistleblower’s revelations underscore the urgent need for reform within the FBI’s security clearance process. Empower Oversight’s call for a thorough investigation and legislative action aims to prevent future abuses and protect those who courageously come forward to expose wrongdoing.

For more information and to stay updated on this issue, visit Empower Oversight’s website and subscribe to their newsletter.

Toxic chemicals released during fires following the Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio last year spread to 16 states and likely Canada, according to a study released Wednesday.

The pollution, some of which came from the burning of vinyl chloride, a carcinogen, spread over 540,000 square miles, showing clearly that “the impacts of the fire were larger in scale and scope than the initial predictions,” the authors of the study, published in Environmental Research Letters, found.

Lead author David Gay, coordinator of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program, said that he was very surprised by the way the chemicals had spread. “I didn’t expect to see an impact this far out,” he told The Washington Post.

Gay said the results did not mean “death and destruction,” as concentrations were low on an absolute scale—”not melting steel or eating paint off buildings”—but that they were still “very extreme” compared to normal, with measurements higher than recorded in the previous ten years.

“I think we should be concerned,” Juliane Beier, an expert on vinyl chloride effects who didn’t take part in the study, told the Post, citing the possibility of long-term environmental impacts on communities.

A Norfolk Southern train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio, a village near the Pennsylvania border and the Appalachian foothills, on February 3, 2023. Dozens of train cars derailed, at least 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials, some of which caught fire after the accident and burned for days. Fearing a large-scale explosion, authorities drained the vinyl chloride from five cars into a trench and set it alight in a controlled burn.

A former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official later said that the controlled burn went against EPA rules; the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said the deliberate burning was unnecessary.

The local impact of the fires was felt acutely in the month after the accident—a “potent chemical odor hung in the air for weeks,” according to The Guardian, and people reported nausea, rashes, and headaches.

The new study helps explain the wider environmental impact. The researchers looked at inorganic compound samples in rain and snow at 260 sites. The highest levels of chloride were found in northern Pennsylvania and near the Canada-New York border, which was downwind from the accident.

The authors also found “exceptionally high” pH levels in rain as far away as northern Maine. They did not look at organic compounds such as dioxin or PFAS, which likely also spread following the accident, The Guardian reported. The elevated inorganic chemical levels dropped two to three weeks after the accident.

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in damages following two settlements reached in recent months. In April, the company reached a $600 million deal with class action plaintiffs living within 20 miles of the derailment site. That deal won’t be finalized until the residents officially agree. In May, the company reached a separate $310 million settlement with the federal government. The company has said that it has already spent $107 million on community support and removed the impacted soil.

Norfolk Southern makes billions in profits every year, and the company gave its CEO a 37% pay hike last year, drawing widespread criticism. The company also spent $2.3 million on federal lobbying last year, according to OpenSecrets data reported by Roll Call.

Link to study

Recently obtained internal documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during litigation between America First Legal (AFL) and the Biden Administration reveal contentious discussions within the “Homeland Intelligence Experts Group.” These documents, part of AFL’s #DeepStateDiaries series, uncover the group’s consideration of Trump supporters as potential domestic extremists.

The documents, released in phases, highlight discussions within the DHS intelligence group about expanding DHS’s influence in local communities under seemingly benign initiatives. AFL’s earlier release focused on proposals suggesting increased reporting from teachers and parents regarding their children, sparking concerns about privacy and civil liberties.

Today’s release centers on criteria used by the Biden Administration to identify potential domestic violent extremists. According to the documents, individuals who support former President Trump, have military backgrounds, or espouse religious beliefs are flagged as having “indicators of extremists and terrorism.” The Brennan-Clapper committee within DHS reportedly emphasized these factors as grounds for heightened surveillance and monitoring.

The documents further assert that a significant portion of the domestic terrorism threat originates from supporters of the former president, highlighting a shift in the perceived sources of security risks.

These revelations have raised considerable debate about the potential implications for civil liberties and constitutional rights, prompting calls for transparency and oversight in DHS practices related to domestic extremism.

As AFL continues to release additional documents, the ongoing scrutiny and discourse around these issues are likely to intensify, shaping future discussions on national security and civil liberties in the United States.

For further updates and detailed information on the released documents, visit America First Legal’s website.