The FBI is “broken” and both it and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have become “political institutions,” according to a new 1,000-page report released by House Republicans as the party prepares to launch investigations ahead of expected midterm gains in Congress.
“Multitudes of whistleblowers” over the last year described FBI leadership as “rotted at its core” with “rampant corruption, manipulation and abuse,” and that it maintains a “systemic culture of unaccountability,” the report said.
The root of the problem is with the FBI’s leadership in Washington, D.C., which is made up of “politicized actors with politicized incentives” who push the agency to meet political objectives, according to the report.
One key allegation in the report is that the FBI is fudging numbers to advance a Biden administration narrative that domestic violent extremism is the biggest threat to the U.S. An ex-FBI official is set to testify about that allegation in December.
Whistleblowers also alleged the FBI actively seeks to “purge” conservative employees, and the report said the agency has retaliated in some form against one whistleblower.
The agency’s “political meddling” is drawing resources away from other duties, whistleblowers alleged. One whistleblower said he was “told that child sexual abuse material investigations were no longer an FBI priority” and assigned to work a politically charged case instead.
The report also alleges the FBI abused counterterrorism powers to investigate parents based on comments they made at school board meetings.
The FBI is a prime target for Republican oversight investigations if that party retakes one or both houses of Congress in the Nov. 8 midterm election. Other priorities include the Biden family’s overseas business ties, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the origin of COVID-19, according to The Hill.
“The FBI has the power, quite literally, to ruin a person’s life—to invade their residence, to take their property, and even to deprive them of their liberty,” the report said.
“The potential abuse of this power, or even the appearance of abuse, erodes the fundamental principle of equality under the law and confidence in the rule of law.”
