Congress has been informed by an increasing number of whistleblowers that high-ranking FBI officials are attempting to force former military personnel out of the agency on the basis of their political views.
The FBI is accusing Marine Corps and other military veterans of disloyalty to the United States on the grounds that they match the profile of a Trump supporter, according to two new disclosures sent to House Judiciary Committee lawmakers.
Copies of the disclosures were obtained by The Washington Times.
According to the whistleblowers, Assistant Section Chief Dena Perkins and Deputy Assistant Director Jeffrey Veltri of the FBI Security Division targeted bureau personnel who had previously served in the Marine Corps or other military branches.
As per the disclosures, they retaliated against the agents by revoking their security clearances, a measure that effectively demotes them from their positions and compels them to vacate the premises.
The disclosures made by the whistleblowers indicate that the FBI leadership, Veltri and Perkins, allegedly sought to declare or officially declare the Marines and other veterans as “disloyal to the United States of America.”
“In these cases there was no indication that any of the individuals had any affiliation to a foreign power or held any belief against the United States,” it said.
Additionally, Perkins nor and Veltri believed that an employee’s refusal to wear a mask, reject the COVID-19 vaccination, and participation in religious activities demonstrated that he or she was a “right-wing extremist and disloyal to the United States.”
In a separate incident, Perkins made an effort to revoke the security clearance of a bureau employee whom she knew to be a Marine veteran, but the accusations proved to be baseless.
Despite this, Perkins directed her investigators to conduct a search of at least ten police departments in the employee’s place of residence in order to ascertain whether the FBI employee had been the subject of any investigations.
“During the process, Perkins was attempting to provide evidence so she could terminate this employee because he was ‘Disloyal to the United States,’” the disclosure states.
“An employee advised that at least two of the publicly known FBI whistleblowers were former members of the military, specifically … Kyle Seraphin and Garret O’Boyle,” according to one of the disclosures.
Another FBI whistleblower disclosure that was forwarded to the Judiciary Committee contained an allegation made by an employee of the Security Division. The employee claimed that the investigation into Mr. Seraphin’s security clearance failed to adhere to the policy guidelines established by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The FBI characterized the accounts provided by the whistleblowers as false and censured The Washington Times for informing Congress about the accusations.
“It is wholly irresponsible of The Washington Times, and this reporter, to include outrageous and demonstrably false allegations that the FBI singled out former military employees. It is offensive that The Washington Times chose to publish, on Veteran’s Day, such baseless, unsubstantiated claims and include the names of FBI employees, one of which is a veteran. The FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures. We do not target or take adverse action against employees for exercising their First Amendment rights or for their political views. The FBI is proud to have many veterans in our workforce and we thank all veterans for their service,” the FBI claimed.
