An official at FBI headquarters in Washington is warning that the bureau’s security clearance division is politicized and can’t be trusted to screen President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for top administration jobs.
The allegations of political bias at the FBI’s security division, or SecD, were revealed in a protected whistleblower disclosure sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which The Washington Times reviewed.
The official said the security clearance process has been “contaminated by the political agendas of [security division] officials and other executives in the FBI.”
The process is also subordinate to the same FBI executives Mr. Trump promised to sweep out of the agency, the whistleblower said.
“FBI SecD has been politicized, and both Director [Christopher] Wray and Deputy Director [Paul] Abbate have the ability to examine the background investigations of anyone who is having a security clearance done,” said the disclosure, which was submitted on Saturday.
The FBI whistleblower said lawmakers need to know that SecD conducts background investigations. The office has been accused of weaponizing the process and using it to retaliate against FBI employees with conservative and pro-Trump views.
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In a statement to The Times, the FBI cited the executive order and the section of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 that names the FBI as “one of the appropriate agencies responsible for candidate background investigations for Presidential appointees, White House staff, positions requiring Senate confirmation, and other national security positions requiring a security clearance.”
“Being completed as expeditiously as possible, the background investigation focuses on character and conduct. The FBI serves as an investigative service provider and does not adjudicate or render an opinion on the results of the background investigation. The FBI’s role is purely fact-finding. Once the investigation is complete, the report is sent to the Office of White House Counsel or the Office of the President-Elect for their use as deemed appropriate,” the FBI said.
CNN reported that Mr. Trump’s transition team bypassed traditional FBI background checks for some nominees and instead used private companies.
The decision to break with the Washington convention coincides with Mr. Trump’s unconventional picks, such as former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general, Pete Hegseth for defense secretary and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.
A security clearance is required for some Cabinet posts, and that process includes an FBI background check. A president can override the process and order a security clearance for nominees, but Mr. Trump will not have that power until after he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.
The whistleblower said that SecD yanked security clearances of FBI employees for political reasons and that Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate will have access to each background check.
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“Under Wray and Abbate, SecD refused clearances to U.S. military veterans, employees who refused to get Covid shots, employees who attended Trump rallies and employees with conservative Christian beliefs,” the disclosure said. “The same FBI officials will be adjudicating President Trump’s nominees. Deputy Director Abbate and Director Wray will have unfettered access to any information that President Trump’s appointees provide during their security clearance background investigation.”
The bureau official warned that SecD could share the information with the Biden administration.
“There is no wall between the background investigation data held by SecD and the Director’s Office. Anyone providing information to the FBI for background investigations should assume that the information, along with all associated electronic inquiries, will be provided to Deputy Director Abbate, Director Wray or even officials in the current White House administration for ‘national security reasons.’”
The disclosure said the bureau could use anything from the background checks to send “lead” information to state officials for potential prosecutions.
“Based on statements that the FBI top leadership should be cleaned out, senior FBI officials have a personal interest in protecting their positions by providing background information to other agencies or giving informal briefings,” it said.
“Although the FBI may advise that it does not provide interim clearances, it actually does. One example of the FBI executives abusing their security authorization privilege was when Director [James] Comey’s leaker from Columbia University was provided a security clearance or when leadership is allowed to maintain security clearances in order to get retirement jobs.”
Although agents from FBI field offices conduct security clearance background interviews, the investigations are controlled and adjudicated by SecD. Parts of SecD are located in Huntsville, Alabama, but the primary location and its leadership are at FBI headquarters in Washington.
The disclosure also alleges that there have been “hundreds of complaints of sexual misconduct by senior executives, and none of them lost their security clearance.”
Mr. Wray, a 2017 appointee of Mr. Trump, oversaw the bureau through the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and almost four years of FBI investigations and arrests of those who participated.
He has been scrutinized by congressional Republicans for the FBI’s lack of transparency in investigations related to the riot, its memo to probe the Catholic Church, the raid on Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and the pursuit of pro-life activists who protested at abortion clinics.
The FBI has no federal mandate to vet presidential appointees, but the bureau has done so since President Eisenhower was in the Oval Office. Agents interview a nominee’s friends, families, business associates and others to uncover anything that might disqualify a nominee from a security clearance.
The FBI has White House employees fill out an online questionnaire. FBI agents then perform the background check. When the background check is complete, the information collected on the White House employee is sent to Sec D.
Sec D then reviews any uncovered criminal histories, conflicts of interest, financial problems, ties to foreign governments or other potentially disqualifying factors to determine whether to deny or approve the clearance.
Concerns have been raised about the backgrounds of some of Mr. Trump’s nominees.
Mr. Gaetz was the subject of a Justice Department sex trafficking investigation, but prosecutors declined to bring charges.
He was also the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and accepting improper gifts. The investigation ended when he resigned from his House seat last week. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Ms. Gabbard has frequently taken political positions that critics said were favorable to U.S. adversaries, including Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic who advocates for food purity and unorthodox medical treatments. He has been mired in an extramarital sexting scandal with New York magazine political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, though he was joined by his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, at a Mr. Trump’s gala Thursday at Mar-a-Lago.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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