Former AG Whitaker to Newsmax: FBI Must Fight Crime, Not Politics

It's time for the FBI's upper echelon to quit worrying about politics and to allow their agents to do their jobs and fight the major crimes that are plaguing the United States, former Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said on Newsmax Saturday.

"They're so far afield," Whitaker told Newsmax's "The Count."

"The management on the seventh floor at the FBI headquarters is so out of touch with what's going on."

Instead of "worrying about politics," the FBI should "quit inserting themselves into presidential elections" and instead once again start working on cases, fighting back against the violent crimes that are challenging the nation's cities, and pushing back against the international drug cartels, Whitaker added.

"There are so many other things that they could be working on and focused on other than playing politics," he said.

Whitaker's comments come after a fiery hearing earlier this week at the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government during which three suspended FBI agents, Marcus Allen, Stephen Friend, and Garret O'Boyle, testified about the retribution they have faced after speaking out as whistleblowers on several issues, including the Jan. 6, 2021 protests at the Capitol and the surveillance of Catholic churches and parents at school board meetings.

O'Boyle, for example, testified about how he was forced to transfer from one part of the country to another, only to learn he had been suspended, forcing his family to survive on early withdrawals from their retirement accounts after he forwarded information to his superiors and others that questioned the official narrative of the events of Jan. 6.

O'Boyle also warned other potential whistleblowers not to speak out, telling them that "the FBI will crush you. This government will crush you and your family, if you try to expose the truth about things that they are doing that are wrong."

"This is very concerning and all these gentlemen that testified were FBI agents, and so they are the best of the best," said Whitaker. They are law enforcement officers and they know what should what's right and what's wrong. All of their testimony was compelling."

He also said he wants to know if there will be any ramifications for how the three men have been treated or if there will be opportunities for them to be reinstated or reimbursed for the disruption of "having their lives turned upside down."

Whitaker also spoke out about the committee's Democrats, who not only questioned the FBI agents' status as legal whistleblowers but also questioned their service and dedication to the United States.

"So the agency, the DOJ, and the FBI are supposed to determine if these people are whistleblowers?" said Whitaker. "I mean, that seems a little bit like an umpire playing the game and deciding the outcome of who's going to win."

He also said he is concerned that Democrats aren't taking the FBI hearing seriously, nor are they giving serious attention to the findings in special counsel John Durham's report on the FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

"They have no interest in reforming federal law enforcement because you know why? It helps them win elections," said Whitaker. "That's really at the root of this and it's kind of disgusting."

He said he hopes House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, who also chairs the weaponization subcommittee, and others on the committee will take all they are learning and "come up with some legislation to help reform the FBI, to get it back to its basic mission, and to make sure that it is returned to its place of respect and honor, where it should be."

However, Whitaker pointed out that 50% of Americans no longer trust the FBI, and that is "changing our system of justice."

But it will take legislative work that can pass both the House and Senate to reform the FBI, said Whitaker, as "the FBI is not going to reform itself."

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