The FBI is being accused of illegally retaliating against an employee who came forward to question the accuracy of FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
Whistleblower group Empower Oversight alleges the FBI unlawfully retaliated against FBI Marcus Allen by suspending him without pay and misusing the security clearance process to punish him for making legally protected whistleblower disclosures regarding Wray’s testimony. (RELATED: Speaker Johnson Invites Group Of Catholics To Capitol For Traditional Latin Mass One Year After FBI Memo)
READ THE LETTER:
“Rather it is about the illegality of the FBI’s personnel actions taken before a security clearance determination had been made, and during the extended time when the FBI was still considering whether to revoke Mr. Allen’s clearance,” Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt said in a Monday letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz.
“In other words, the decision to suspend Mr. Allen indefinitely from duty without pay and delay of the security clearance process, while also preventing him from taking another job and accepting charitable contributions, constructively terminated Mr. Allen from FBI employment for all practical purposes without ever needing to reach a final determination on his security clearance,” Leavitt added.
Allen and his family have faced financial distress from the FBI because he is unable to gain employment elsewhere or take charitable contributions, Leavitt says in the letter. Allen is a Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Iraq and won multiple awards for his military service.
Empower Oversight previously wrote a letter to Horowitz in April 2023 requesting he investigate the FBI’s security clearance suspension to determine if it was improper.
The most recent letter from Empower Oversight is about the FBI’s decisions during the time it was considering whether to revoke Allen’s security clearance. From May to September 2023, the FBI allegedly withheld documentation necessary for Allen to dispute the FBI’s decision to revoke his security clearance.
New Filing: FBI is Breaking the Law in its 2 Years’ of Retaliation Against FBI #Whistleblower Marcus Allen
Press release: https://t.co/fdnN3EJzrO
New complaint to @JusticeOIG and OPR: https://t.co/nX5sLqD03r (full PDF)
🧵1. …with highlights below. https://t.co/ONqKNHipTW
— Jason Foster (@JsnFostr) January 23, 2024
“Those personnel decisions to suspend him indefinitely without pay and delay the security clearance process are separate and apart from the security clearance determination itself and independently constitute statutorily prohibited whistleblower retaliation,” Leavitt’s letter reads.
Allen’s security clearance was revoked in May 2023 pending appeal from Allen, and the decision has not yet been finalized. The FBI originally recommended in September 2021 for Allen’s security clearance to be renewed but reversed its decision because of Allen’s Sept. 29, 2021 whistleblower disclosure contesting Wray’s March 2021 testimony about the presence of law enforcement on Jan. 6th, 2021.
In October 2023, Empower Oversight filed a request with the FBI to re-evaluating the proposed revocation of Allen’s security clearance.
Allen’s security clearance was suspended Jan. 10, 2022 based on the false assertion that he expressed sympathy for the Capitol attack, Empower Oversight said.
Allen emailed his colleagues on Sept. 29, 2021 a video by conservative commentator Darren Beattie discussing a New York Times report detailing how an FBI informant was present among the rioters. Shortly thereafter, Allen sent a follow up email where he raised the question of law enforcement activity on Jan. 6th, 2021.
Allen proceeded to meet with a concerned supervisor, and he disclosed more concerns surrounding the validity of Wray’s testimony where he indicated to Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar that the FBI did not have knowledge of the plans various extremist groups made ahead of the Capitol attack.
“By disclosing in good faith to supervisors in his direct chain of command his reasonable belief that Director Wray may have lied to Congress, Mr. Allen’s September 29, 2021 communications were protected by various provisions of law,” Empower Oversight told the FBI.
The FBI told the Daily Caller it does not punish employees who make protected whistleblower disclosures.
“While we have no comment on specific employees, the FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures,” the FBI said.
“All employees are held to the highest professional standards and those who don’t carry out their responsibilities are held accountable through an objective administrative process.”
This article has been updated to include comment from the FBI