He came forward and lost his job because of it. He refused to raid a home connected with January 6.. FBI Special Agent Steve Friend didn’t think the punishment matched the crime. Friend filed a whistleblower complaint alleging the raids had become “overzealous”, politicized over conservatives. Most of the raids are happening to people just accused of misdemeanors and disorderly conduct.
The whistleblower objected
He called himself a “conscientious objector”. He said he had an oath to uphold the Constitution. He believed
“it was inappropriate to use an FBI SWAT team to arrest a subject for misdemeanor offenses and opined that the subject would likely face extended detainment and biased jury pools in Washington, DC. I suggested alternatives such as the issuance of a court summons or utilizing surveillance groups to determine an optimal, safe time for a local sheriff deputy to contact the subjects and advise them about the existence of the arrest warrant.”
He knew the deck would be stacked against these people and it was wrong. He was “stripped of his gun and badge, and escorted out of the FBI field office in Daytona Beach, Fla..” Friend was declared absent without leave when he didn’t appear for the August 24 raid.
Column's up: FBI hero paying the price for exposing unjust persecution of conservative Americans https://t.co/sIxHTiMv4j
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) September 22, 2022
The whistleblower laid out complaints
Friend spoke of FBI case management manipulation. These have been farmed out to field offices depending on where an offender was located to make it look like this is more widespread than it is.
It’s not. It’s only related to one incident. Friend alleged cases were being opened on innocent people who weren’t near the Capitol that day. People were calling in anonymous tips.
The Divine “The special agent still serving who was suspended on Monday he’s an American hero,”
Whistleblower Steve Friend has contacted the Inspector General and House Republicans. pic.twitter.com/AfhLapGORK
— 🇺🇸RealRobert🇺🇸 (@Real_RobN) September 22, 2022
The whistleblower noted a rule change
There’s a designated grassy area outside the Capitol that wasn’t restricted on January 6. The FBI changed that designation so people who thought they were safe, now aren’t.
The New York Post’s Miranda Devine spoke with Tucker Carlson. She called Friend
“an American hero. He had the dream job. He’s been with the FBI for 12 years. He’s a SWAT team member. But he just could not live with his conscience after he was dragged off these very important child porn, child exploitation, human trafficking investigations that he was working on and put on these really bogus Jan. 6 cases that just serve to, I guess, back up the rhetoric that we’re hearing from the White House that domestic terrorism is the worst threat to America since the Civil War.”
The whistleblower lost his job
Friend has been talking to Republicans about this. In January Sen. Ted Cruz had asked the assistant executive director at the time, Jill Sanborn, about the number of FBI agents or informants that participated. “How many FBI agents or confidential informants actively participated in the events of Jan. 6?”
Sanborn refused to answer, “Sir, I’m sure you can appreciate that I can’t go into the specifics of sources and methods.” She ducked his follow up questions as to whether any agents at all were involved.
