During a hearing featuring FBI whistleblowers on Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep.
Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, engaged in a heated argument with Democrats.
The idea began when Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-USVI, requested that Democrats on the committee be provided with a transcript of a previous hearing, during which FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen had consented only to speak with Republicans. Jordan denied the request, leading to a lengthy argument that involved multiple lawmakers over the committee's rules.
"I'm not aware that you're able to withhold information from the minority that we would need to use," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Shultz before being cut off by Jordan. "When it comes to whistleblowers you are not [entitled]," Jordan said, repeating the phrase as Wasserman Shultz protested. "That's not right," interjected Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.
"It's shocking that the gentleman from New York would say that when you were part of an investigation with an anonymous whistleblower," Jordan said as Goldman continued to talk. Jordan continued to bull through the complaints and ultimately allowed Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to proceed with questioning.
Jordan and other Republicans on the committee released a report detailing the claims of various FBI whistleblowers, arguing that the organization had been infected with "politicized rot." During a press conference before the hearing, Jordan said that his committee spoke with over two dozen FBI whistleblowers in compiling its report.
"If you're a parent attending a school board meeting; if you're a pro-lifer praying at a clinic, or you're a Catholic simply going to mass, you are a target of the government, a target of the FBI," Jordan said, adding that officials attempted to "inflate" their investigations to treat them as domestic and violent extremism cases.
Gaetz also spoke at the news conference and detailed whistleblower claims that the Washington, D.C., field office is the source of much of the "rot" within the organization.
"A lot of the rot, the committee has learned, emerges out of headquarters, out of the Washington field office," Gaetz said. "[A whistleblower] described the conflict that existed as the Washington field office put pressure on other field offices around the country to engage in law enforcement work without predication."
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