FBI Director Christopher A. Wray told House lawmakers Wednesday that a security questionnaire asking about employees’ political beliefs was not created by a bureau official.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, Wisconsin Republican, asked Mr. Wray if his agency considered support for former President Donald Trump and rejection of the COVID-19 vaccine among FBI personnel a security threat by senior management, to which the bureau chief responded, “No.”
Mr. Tiffany then asked who created the Trump questionnaire that was done within the FBI’s investigative security division.
Mr. Wray said the person who made the form wasn’t an FBI official.
“The document you’re asking about is an interview outline that we only recently learned about and in my view is completely inappropriate,” he told House Judiciary Committee members.
“I asked my team to get to the bottom of what happened and to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I’ve learned it’s not an FBI form. That its use was isolated. That it was created not by an FBI employee but by an outside contractor, and that individual is no longer affiliated with the FBI.”
Mr. Wray said the FBI is sending the information it found to the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and will cooperate.
The FBI Security Division officials’ investigation of an employee included questions about political and personal beliefs, according to whistleblower disclosures recently sent to the inspector general.
“Director Wray is hiding the ball on this,” Tristan Leavitt, president of the nonprofit whistleblower law firm Empower Oversight, wrote on X.
He added, “Another whistleblower to Empower Oversight — a registered Democrat and supervisor from within the FBI’s Security Division —— disclosed to the DOJ IG and to Congress that these kinds of questions were asked all the time in interviews, even if they weren’t typed up in outlines ahead of time.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.