FBI under fire at Weaponization of the Federal Government hearing - Deseret News
By: Joshua Lee (Deseret News)
Changed indeed.................
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, left, speaks as Rep. Stacey Plaskett, D-Virgin Islands, right, listens during a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on what Republicans say is the politicization of the FBI and Justice Department and attacks on American civil liberties on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, in Washington.
Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
The inaugural public hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday featured testimony by Republican and Democratic lawmakers as well as by agency whistleblowers, who all raised concerns about potential abuses of power by federal agencies among others.
At the hearing, former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard spoke about her reaction to being accused of "treasonous lies" in a tweet by Utah Sen. Mitt Romney last year, over claims she made about Ukraine.
Gabbard, who was invited by Republicans to testify, focused her remarks on cancel culture and threats to Americans' First Amendment rights. She said she "challenged (Romney) to back this serious allegation up with evidence."
Romney wasn't immediately available to respond to her comments.
The subcommittee was created by the GOP House majority to ratchet up scrutiny and government oversight of federal agencies that they say have been politicized. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-OH, presided over the hearing as chair and delivered an opening statement listing examples given by over a dozen FBI whistleblowers who said they witnessed abuses of power at the bureau for political motives.
Beyond the FBI, Jordan referenced other agencies he wants to investigate, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS.
Democrats, led by Ranking Member Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands, cautioned that while government oversight is necessary and helpful, the GOP formation of the subcommittee could end up enabling the very weaponization of government Republicans claim they want to eliminate.
"Millions of Americans already fear that weaponization is the right name for this special subcommittee — not because weaponization of the government is its target but because weaponization of the government is its purpose," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said as one of the Democratic members who participated on a panel at the hearing.
The committee members heard from Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The two criticized the Justice Department for stonewalling them over their inquires in recent years.
"During the course of my career, I've run countless investigations. In the past few years, I've never seen so much effort from the FBI, the partisan media and some of my Democratic colleagues to interfere with and undermine very legitimate congressional inquires," Grassley said.
Johnson echoed his colleague's concerns and focused his remarks on what he called the "corrupt Russian-Trump collusion" investigation, and the 51 former intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 saying the Hunter Biden laptop story bore "all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."
A second panel of witnesses included two former FBI agents who both claimed the FBI has lost its way. "Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an institution they once regarded as the world's greatest law enforcement agency," said Thomas Baker, who served in the FBI for over 30 years.
Baker said he believes a centralizing structural change at the bureau initiated by former Director Robert Mueller, "deliberately changed the culture of the FBI" from a "law enforcement agency to an intelligence driven agency."
One focus of the hearing was the alleged political targeting of parents who raised concerns at school board meetings. In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland released a memo bringing attention to a "disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence" levied at school officials. Some Republicans raised concerns over what they believed to be the use of government authority to intimidate parents and others for expressing their political opinions.
Last October, Garland testified in Congress that his memo wasn't meant to deter parents who wanted to express their opinions, but to raise awareness of "true threats of violence that are not protected by the First Amendment."
Some Democratic members used their time to ask questions to read the anonymous comments received by school board members that included threats of violence and death. The minority party members repeatedly used the statements as evidence the Justice Department was justified in its concerns and actions.
The subcommittee is required to submit a final report to the full House on its findings by Jan. 2, 2025, the last day of the 118th Congress. Jordan also indicated the committee intends to propose legislation "that will help protect the American people."
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And we all saw it in real time.....................
And the left stood there with blindfolds on cheering it all on.
Morning Jim ... Just as I saw and heard what I 'wanted' to in the J-6 hearings, my 'educated' guess is you had the same reaction with this 'hearing'. We are both part sheep and part wolf.
You may be right but the hearing has little to do with my opinion. I saw and lived the evolution of the FBI prior to and during the Trump years.
During that time I experienced the devolution of ICE.
What? Virtue signaling from conservatives?
A 33 year retired FBI Agent who retired in 1999, who just happened to have written a book recently yearning for the good old days of the FBI? "The Fall of The FBI; how a once great agency became a threat to democracy". ( No agenda there /S)
Or the tearful Nicole who resigned from the FBI last year because her feelings were hurt?
Ditto Gabbard, Boebert and Greene. How dare people have opinions different than theirs.
Pure comedy.
Democrats and leftists in a nutshell. Democrats like to weapon agencies like the IRS, FBI, and DOJ against those that don't agree with them. They hate they are being called out on it now.
So far Republicans haven't had the balls to use their committee powers to compel testimony from those that think they are above the law. The second they do and Garland balks- he will put the final nail in his own political coffin. Garland couldn't wait to use the FBI/DOJ to compel people from the Trump administration to talk to the Jan 6th committee- even Trump's own lawyers which violating attorney/client confidentiality.
Nixon was not a Democrat.
Go fish.
Very good, you got it right.
I don't know what Nixon has to do with it, but I am sure it must be some inane convoluted explanation.
“Republicans haven't had the balls…”
Hence the goeberts, greenes, and gabberts left to carry the balls…the mccarthys, mcconnells, and maga-ites being emasculated.
As to your logo, Is the pic below the "Cure"? I've noticed a number of folks in congress sporting them.
that's definitely the only cure [deleted]
Don't be scared, it isn't going to shoot you.
In the past few years, I've never seen so much effort from the FBI, the partisan media and some of my Democratic colleagues to interfere with and undermine very legitimate congressional inquires," Grassley said.
It takes a special kind of maniacal partisan to have lived through the last few years of being constantly lied to by the media and government officials and think ""everything is fine." The Clinton campaign literally created a phantom menace of Russian collusion to distract from Hillary's own substantial connections to Putin and people think it's normal. Just a few weeks ago, it was revealed that the media pushed thousands of stories about "Russian disinformation" based on fraudulent data from a dishonest think tank and progressives could have cared less. It's a cult at this point.
What has become cultish is either side calling the other a cult. Partisanship is the cult.
“Partisanship is our great curse. We too readily assume that everything has two sides and that it is our duty to be on one or the other.”
~James Harvey Robinson
Forgetting our commonality. Forgetting that nothing will be accomplished if we ignore the concerns of one side or another.
utter nonsense
Only to those with full blown rampant TDS.
...who have actually read the Republican investigations own conclusions that the investigation was warranted, there were numerous contacts between Russian agents and the Trump campaign, sensitive polling data was given them from Trumps own campaign manager that, according to the Republican Senate, " represented a grave counterintelligence threat”.
Factbox: Key findings from Senate inquiry into Russian interference in 2016 U.S. election | Reuters
[ DELETED ]
I see the COC has evolved again. Cool.
Tough to just finding out you got played like a violin for years. Wait until you find out about the Steele Dossier....
You mean the Steele Dossier that everybody else knew was fabricated some years ago but the Democrats and left ran with as "absolute fact"? That Steele Dossier?
[DELETED]
I see your Steele dossier and raise you planted Russian disinformation.
Thank you. Didn't catch that.
Are you really so incapable of actually reading the Republican Senate investigation findings? Are you stuck in eternal repeat just regurgitating the bullshit narrative coming from dumb shit right wing media? Your quotes above do absolutely NOTHING to counter my statement that the investigations were found, not only by the Republican's investigation but also by the IG Horowitz report, to be warranted. The bullshit Trump narrative that it was all a "hoax" is a lie as anyone with even a smidgen of reading comprehension and the willingness to read the investigations conclusions would admit.
Utter nonsense was the lies about Trump colluding with Russia that have gone on for years.
In fact, I recall you seeding articles spreading that damned lie.
Are you? Do you understand anything going on here? I wrote "The Clinton campaign literally created a phantom menace of Russian collusion to distract from Hillary's own substantial connections to Putin" and provided proof of it. Your responses consist of spittle laced invective that fail to address the lies about collusion spread by the Clinton campaign.
Trump did not collude with Russia, The time has come to finally at long last to put that LIE to bed forever.
You provided no such proof of any "substantial connections to Putin" of the Clinton campaign and have ignored the actual findings of the investigation in favor of the horseshit partisan narrative manufactured by Bill Barr and the rest of Trumps toadies at the time. You clearly have no fucking clue as to what the investigation concluded and prove just how fucking deluded and empty the right wing bullshit narrative really is. It's hard to believe that such hilariously flawed conspiracy theories enjoy such long lives among the perennially brain dead.
Fact: The investigations showed MANY contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian agents and a desire and willingness to cooperate with Russian agents to influence the 2016 election.
Fact: The investigation was found to be WARRANTED regardless of how much slimy fucking worthless piece of shit Republicans scream that its not true.
For those poorly educated conservatives who might have trouble with words and definitions:
Warranted: verb - justified or necessary; a good reason for something to be accepted.
How many investigations found "substantial connections" between Hillary and Putin? Oh, that's right, NONE. That's a fucking baseless moronic claim clearly made by right wing idiots with their heads shoved up MTG's ass.
It’s called TDS. Gamed and created by the chosen one when she lost that which could not be lost. Thank God that sea hag didn’t become POTUS. I can only imagine how much more damage she could have done there.
"Americans have lost faith in the Federal Bureau of Investigation ..."
If so, because of weaponization, then the same could be said of SCOTUS whose approval numbers are approaching those of a used car salesman.
Remind us all again which party wants to pack the Supreme Court so that it will always rule their way?
The Trump Party already succeeded in that.
That was a theatrical response to McConnell's theatrics over Merrick Garland.
So you don't understand how justices are appointed? republicans filled vacancies with the consent of the Senate, Talk to Ruthie about them losing a liberal seat.
Oh we know, Presidents nominate candidates and the Senate is supposed to confirm or deny them. The problem is when President Obama nominated a candidate Republicans refused to even debate their nomination and waited almost a year claiming the incoming President should get to make that choice. Then when a justice died while a Republican President was in office at the end of a term with an election coming up Republicans pushed through their candidate just weeks before the election apparently completely abandoning their supposed belief that the incoming President, the choice of the American people, should get to make that choice.
When can we stop pretending that Republicans have any backbone, any moral fiber, any shame at all and just accept that they apparently would sell their own grandmothers as sex slaves it it meant they could gain more political power. The party of supposed moral authority has bowed before their corrupt immoral thrice married false god golden calf and have given up any virtue or value they may have once had. RIP the party of Lincoln, there is nothing left but the decayed party of Beelzetrump.
So many words to say, "you are correct, it was wrong of SP to claim Trump packed the Court"
Decaf!
The funniest part is when Biden got his shot to appoint a Justice with a democrat Senate he also gave Garland the finger.
That damn Sen Biden rule.
That's a 'nice' fantasy', however, Biden had bigger bets to book and embarrassing McConnell was not a wild card to be played willy nilly. You need to remember that republicans actually liked Garland and it was one of the reasons Obama nominated him.
That's complete bullshit.
Garland was the federal prosecutor who convicted and executed Tim McVeigh...
That's a lie,
Maybe Garland fetched him coffee while pretending to supervise a real prosecuter, but i'm sure he was to incompetent to even do that.
Garland was lead on the ground in OKC!
Whatever you say George.
George, jim, or jambalaya, better taken with a grain of salt or better yet, with a Vieux Carré
Not really, Garland was the original prosecutor, but his boss felt he could run the case from Washington D.C. where he was needed more.
Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Merrick Garland outranked Joe Hartzler
who took direction from Garland and Gorelick.
.
.
An opinion not in evidence of the facts....
That's a lot of words to say I was right and you are wrong, you can't run a prosecution from a different state. Garland is an incompetent ass!
You post he was in Washington and then try to say he was the lead on OKC, your posts [DELETED contradict themselves.]
If i ever want to know about the racist that runs Canada i will ask you, Other than that.....
and yet that is exactly what Garland is famous for, running the prosecution from the
DOJ in Washington D.C.
Do you also assert that other leaders like Douglas MacArthur and Ike Eisenhower
were incompetent because they weren't actually there?
Perhaps at the same time you demand the same from Democrats.
And we both know that ain't ever going to happen!
Huh?
In no way did any party stack the court, although Democrats have in the past often talked of it, with some Democrats talking of expanding the Court to 13 members.
If you have real evidence of such goings on, present it.
Do so, I'll even provide you with a shovel to practice your 'art' ...
[Deleted]
[deleted] please feel free to no longer respond to me.
An intelligent post as in " ... a pedophile like your hero Joe"?
[Deleted]
There is a chain of command for all levels of prosecutors.
Prosecutors work for governmental agencies.
Hartzler answered to Garland. Fact.
Defense Council like Johnny C? Not so much.
Your refusal to accept 30 year old facts says a hell of lot more about the
hateful little fantasy world you live in
on top of your lame attempts to insult strangers on social media that you
disagree with.
Sad.
Elections have consequences according to Obama.
Right?
Garland didn’t prosecute anyone fact! [deleted]
PS Biden is a pedophile who repeatedly raped his own daughter, he is everything you accused trump of and more.
I am certain that the sentiment has been around since democracies were established.
Actually, Barbara Boxer is credited with saying that first in American politics in 2007.
John McCain used it twice both in in his primary debates and again to Obama.
Which is why it was a dig to John McCain when Obama said it and not an original quote.
But true none the less.
Most of the opinions you post are that Biden has fucked up the country and is responsible for every single negative thing that happens to the USA and none of the positive things.
Your comments are public knowledge here.
Apply your thinking to Merrick Garland, who was in fact higher up in the chain of command than the Prosecutor ( Hartzler) who replaced Garland in the McVeigh case and Garland made a career out of the reputation that arose out of his handling that domestic terrorist case. It's public knowledge and fact no matter how loud you protest or how vulgar you need to be.
I rarely trade insults and my opinions are always based in facts. You may not agree, that's your right.
Again, my comments are all public knowledge here and even back to 2007 I have never engaged in calling Trump or Biden a pedophile. That seems to be another one of your unfounded opinions.
Credibility suicide ⇡
Perhaps but we’ll never know.
I wasn’t talking about old grumpy.
I wasn’t talking about him either.
More unneeded lecture. It is however fun watching Bidenettes still slobbering all over their former boss.
Wow .... agreement on something. Extraordinary!
Every time SCOTUS renders a decision, somebody is pissed off.
Too bad, they need to toughen up and get over it.
The purpose of any govt. agency isn't to be "popular".
“The purpose of any govt. agency isn't to be "popular".”
Do you apply the same standards to the DOJ, FBI, IRS? Or are you just another partisan hack?
You DO know that all of those are govt. agencies, I hope!
Please pester someone else with your inane questions.
“You DO know that all of those are govt. agencies, I hope!”
duh…can you answer the question posed in 3.2.1? Just this once? Without the inevitable dodge in 3…2…1…?
I do believe "somebody" has morphed into a plurality.
[deleted]
yeah, and?
I hold everyone and everything to the same standard.
Anything ELSE you need to know?
Except, it is Trump's FBI under Barr under fire...
The Trump-Barr-Durham Hoax is now exposed!
And from everything I have read, basically nothing happened.