The top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee said Monday a whistleblower has come forward detailing how the FBI is manipulating cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to create "the illusion" that domestic violent extremism is a widespread problem in the United States.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray that the "manipulative case-file practice" was being conducted by the bureau's Washington field office, which was instructing local FBI offices to open up cases on their books that were in fact simply related to the Capitol breach.
"The FBI's case categorization creates the illusion that threats from DVE are present in jurisdictions across the nation, when in reality they all stem from the same related investigation concerning the actions at the Capitol on January 6," Jordan wrote.
"Such an artificial case categorization scheme allows FBI leadership to misleadingly point to 'significant' increases in DVE threats nationwide," he added.
The Republican lawmaker said the whistleblower's description is "consistent with disclosures we have received from other whistleblowers that high-ranking FBI officials — including a senior WFO official — are pressing front-line agents to categorize cases as DVE matters to fit a political narrative."
The activity comes as President Joe Biden and his team try to make the case that supporters of Donald Trump are creating a crisis of extremism in the United States, a case he made in a widely panned speech in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago.
Jordan said the FBI's shifted focus is coming at the expense of other crimes, including the investigation of child sex exploitation.
"The whistleblower disclosed that the FBI is sacrificing its other important federal law-enforcement duties to pursue January 6 investigations," Jordan wrote. "The whistleblower recalled, for example, being told that child sexual abuse material investigations were no longer an FBI priority and should be referred to local law enforcement agencies.
"Such a posture is not only a dereliction of the FBI's mission to investigate violations of federal laws, but it is a grave disservice to the victims of child sexual abuse and other crimes that do not advance the FBI leadership's political agenda."
