A recently published inspector general report, paired with newly released transcripts of one FBI official’s 2023 interview with the House Judiciary Committee, shows that the FBI’s strategy for retaliating against whistleblowers involved suspending their security clearances without explanation or warning.
Jennifer Leigh Moore, who served as executive assistant director for the FBI’s human resources branch until her retirement in June 2023, told congressional investigators that she is “adamant for every employee to be treated fairly and accurately” and that her “whole management principle is around ‘be kind.’”
“No matter what we’re doing, if we’re suspending a clearance, if we’re bringing on board an employee, or if we’re at a retirement, we are always kind,” she told the House Judiciary Committee in April 2023.
Moore and her agency’s actions regarding retaliation against whistleblowers, however, suggest otherwise.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan expressed strong concerns that the FBI initiated a targeted “purge” of employees with dissenting views last year. Moore first testified to the committee about the issue in April 2023 but refused to comment any time she was asked about several agents who suffered suspensions.
She claimed she was “not allowed to discuss ongoing security investigations,” prompting the House Judiciary Committee to subpoena her for refusing “to answer questions during her transcribed interview about the FBI’s retaliation against brave whistleblowers who have come forward.”
Special Agent Garret O’Boyle, Special Agent Stephen Friend, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst George Hill, and Staff Operations Specialist Marcus Allen all testified to Congress in
