Democrats spar with Republicans and try to derail witnesses laying out ‘rot’ in the Bureau
Democrats on the House Select Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government sparred with Republicans over the FBI whistleblowers’ credibility as chaos broke out in the hearing room.
Suspended FBI agents Garret O’Boyle, Steve Friend and Marcus Allen are testifying Thursday before the committee to detail the alleged ‘abuses of power’ by the federal bureau’s leadership – ranging from discrimination against conservatives to inflation of domestic terrorism statistics.
‘Get ready — because [the Democrats] are gonna come after you,’ Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, warned the witnesses at the start of the hearing.
His warning rang true after the ranking member on the committee, Democratic Rep. Stacey Plaskett began casting doubt that the witnesses could even be considered ‘whistleblowers’ in a fiery opening statement during which she slammed Republicans for apparently withholding the previous testimony of the witnesses.
She also accused Jordan of holding a ‘Make America Trump Again’ hearing and of ‘going after the FBI on behalf of Trump.’
Jordan replied, calling her opening statements ‘ridiculous’ and adding that he’s impressed that the whistleblowers had the bravery to appear before the committee after the trashing they’ve received at the hands of Democrats.
Another Republican, Rep. Darrell Issa, shot back saying that since 1778, ‘whistleblowers have been recognized by our government, by our Congress.’
‘Each of these whistleblowers [today] came forward with what are clearly protected disclosures.’
Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., disagreed, saying: ‘I’m not quite sure why we had this hearing.’
He said that unless there is a ‘broad pattern of discrimination or violation of law,’ the witnesses can not be considered ‘whistleblowers.’
In a testy exchange between the top Republican Jordan and Democratic Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, the congresswoman accused the committee of withholding Marcus Allen’s testimony specifically.
She asked for a copy of the testimony from his transcribed interview a few months ago, to which Jordan said ‘the whistleblower didn’t want that to happen.’
She replied that since he is comfortable enough to share is story in an open forum at the hearing, surely Jordan could turn the testimony over to his Democratic colleagues.
Jordan snapped back, saying Sanchez did not declare a ‘point of order’ and must move forward with her allotted five minutes of questioning.
‘This is not how committees work,’ Sanchez stated, adding: ‘I think it’s important that we recognize this hearing for what it actually is – make no mistake this hearing is a vehicle to legitimize the events of January 6.’
Sanchez continued on to question Allen regarding a tweet under the handle @MarcusA97050645 that stated ‘Nancy Pelosi staged January 6.’
Allen replied that the account the congresswoman referred to is not his domain and must belong to another ‘Marcus Allen.’
‘I don’t know, ma’am. That’s not my account,’ said Allen.
Despite the fact he didn’t author the tweet, Sanchez pressed him to answer on whether or not he agreed with the tweet, to which he replied ‘no.’
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