FBI leaders are instructing agents to reclassify cases to bolster the Biden administration’s narrative that “domestic violent extremism” is a major threat, whistleblowers told Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
“From recent protected disclosures, we have learned that FBI officials are pressuring agents to reclassify cases as ‘domestic violent extremism’ even if the cases do not meet the criteria for such a classification,” Jordan said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday. “Given the narrative pushed by the Biden Administration that domestic violent extremism is the ‘greatest threat’ facing our country, the revelation that the FBI may be artificially padding domestic terrorism data is scandalous.”
“According to you and other Biden Administration officials, investigations into DVEs [domestic violent extremists] have increased ‘significantly,'” Jordan added. “In June 2021, you testified that the FBI has a ‘very, very active domestic terrorism investigation program’ and that you had ‘doubled the amount of domestic terrorism investigations.'”
The Ohio lawmaker said these claims to be tough on extremism “may be misleading,” however, as whistleblowers said, “FBI agents are bolstering the number of cases of DVEs to satisfy their superiors.”
According to one whistleblower, Jordan said, “agents are not finding enough DVE cases” and “are encouraged and incentivized to reclassify cases as DVE cases even though there is minimal, circumstantial evidence to support the reclassification.”
According to Jordan, another whistleblower said FBI officials “have pressured agents to move cases into the DVE category to hit self-created performance metrics,” which the FBI uses “to dispense awards and promotions.”
“These whistleblower allegations that the FBI is padding its domestic violent extremist data cheapens actual examples of violent extremism,” Jordan said. “This information also reinforces our concerns—about which we have written to you several times—regarding the FBI’s politicization under your leadership.”
Jordan added that Wray has ignored concerns about the FBI “conducting a ‘purge'” of conservative employees. “It appears instead that the FBI is more focused on classifying investigations to meet a woke left-wing agenda,” Jordan said.
