The FBI, Conservative Viewpoints, and the Search For Jan. 6th Truths – Opinion

A year ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that his agency had not “seen any evidence of any anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re not looking and we’ll continue to look, but at the moment, we have not seen that,” Wray said at the time.

FBI Director Chris Wray debunked conspiracy theories promoted by right-wing supporters of former President Donald Trump, saying there was no evidence that leftist extremists disguised themselves as Trump supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol https://t.co/eor8VopXef pic.twitter.com/HoWdrf1ffM

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 3, 2021

This attitude — in light of just how confusing things were on that day (there was cosplaying going on all over the place apparently) — looks a bit strange in retrospect as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) began banging away in January trying to get answers about whether or not federal agents may have been embedded and encouraging the crowd and Republicans continue to express disbelief that the official story is as they’ve been told. In fact, 55% of Republicans polled in a recent Reuters/Ipsos survey (take it for what it’s worth, polls being what they are) “said they believed the riot was led by violent left-wing protesters.”

According to a note sent by Republican Senator Jim Jordan (OH) to Wray, there might be more reasons to doubt the FBI’s early findings (emphasis on added).

Multiple former FBI officials are coming forward with information suggesting the bureau is “purging” employees with conservative viewpoints, according to House Judiciary Committee Republicans.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the panel, sent a letter to Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday outlining new allegations that relate to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

“In one such example, The FBI suspended security clearances of retired military servicemen who disclosed private views about how the FBI wasn’t being forthcoming regarding January 6th. The FBI questioned the whistleblower’s allegiance to the United States despite the fact that the whistleblower honorably served in the United States military for several years — including deployments in Kuwait and Iraq — valiantly earning multiple military commendation medals,” a press release for the letter states.

“In addition, another whistleblower, who has since left the FBI, has informed us that faced retaliation for criticizing the FBI in an anonymous survey circulated by the [REDACTED]Following January 6, employees were notified. After January 6, the FBI is alleged to have escalated an adverse employee action against this individual. [REDACTED]The survey sought your feedback on the website. [REDACTED] actions ‘during the recent crisis/command post’ event. It was also not possible to discipline or reprimand the employee until then. [REDACTED] criticized the FBI,” the letter reads.

If these whistleblowers tell the truth, then political bias by a federal law enforcement agency is indeed troubling. But the allegation that the agency might be politically biased enough to lie by omission about what happened on January 6th — an event Democrat party members have repeatedly insisted was a coup attempting to undermine the peaceful exchange of power and was, indeed, a threat to the very core of American governance — is damning indeed.

Wray has already been called on the carpet by law professor Jonathan Turley for hyperoble in calling the protests on January 6th “domestic terrorism,” so it’s at least arguable he’s not immune to making some lapses in judgment when it comes to what happened that day.

Legal scholar Jonathan Turley criticized FBI Director Christopher Wray for calling the Jan. 6 riot “domestic terrorism” in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“I believe that Director Wray’s characterization of the riot as domestic terrorism is overbroad and unsustainable,” said Turley. Wray called the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol, where some participants broke through police barriers and destroyed federal property, an act of “domestic terrorism,” in March 2021.

Turley stated that none of the protestors had committed acts of terrorism.

Perhaps it’s time to discover if Wray has any additional information to add about the people on the grounds of the Capitol that day, and the ones who ultimately breached the building. The FBI was, by Wray’s own admission, going to continue to look into it. He should be called up by the January 6th committee to tell them what the FBI has discovered in the six months since he gave his original statement. They should, but don’t be surprised if they don’t.