A nonprofit watchdog group for whistleblowers is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general to disclose the outcomes of an investigation into an FBI retaliation case that reached a settlement last week.
Last Friday, the FBI restored the security clearance of whistleblower Marcus Allen, a Marine combat veteran who had been suspended without pay for more than two years. Allen’s clearance was revoked over making protected disclosures related to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s testimony after the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The FBI rescinded its retaliatory actions against Allen prior to the DOJ inspector general finalizing a report on the improper suspension.
The whistleblower protection group Empower Oversight addressed a letter to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz on Tuesday, urging the release of investigative findings despite Allen’s settlement with the FBI.
“For 27 months, Mr. Allen and his family had to depend on early withdrawals from their retirement accounts to continue challenging the FBI’s improper revocation of his security clearance,” wrote Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt. “For 13 of those months, Mr. Allen also waited for your office to complete and report on its investigation into the FBI’s abuse of the security clearance process to retaliate against him.”
While awaiting the inspector general’s review, the FBI denied Allen’s requests for alternative employment or public charity, leaving him without pay and assignments for over two years. During his suspension, Allen was still subject to the gift rules applicable to public officials.
According to Leavitt, Allen “voluntarily resigned, pursuant to a settlement agreement with the FBI that includes full restoration of his pay and benefits for the entire 27 months of his suspension.”
“Although he agreed to withdraw his complaints to your office and is no longer employed with the Bureau,” Leavitt added, “Allen believes that the public and Congress’s FBI oversight committees need to know the facts uncovered during your extensive inquiry.”
“The FBI’s decision to reinstate his clearance came before your office reported its investigative findings, but that shouldn’t be an excuse to disregard the issue,” Leavitt emphasized.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, described Allen’s reinstatement as “a total vindication for a great patriot” in a Tuesday statement.
“Marcus courageously stood up to expose misconduct at the FBI, despite attacks from FBI bureaucrats and congressional Democrats,” Jordan stated. He further demanded that the Bureau “also reinstate the security clearances of whistleblowers Garret O’Boyle and Stephen Friend.”
Both O’Boyle and Friend faced agency retaliation for exposing the FBI’s politicization by far-left ideologues. O’Boyle informed Congress that the federal agency relocated him from the Great Plains to Washington, D.C., only to suspend him on his first day after making protected disclosures to lawmakers. He claimed the FBI was designating white supremacy as a top national security threat to justify extensive surveillance.
Friend also experienced agency backlash for criticizing the FBI’s handling of suspects from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He told lawmakers that the bureau deployed a SWAT team to arrest a suspect in the Orlando area.
“I’ve arrested over 150 violent criminals in my career; I’ve never needed a SWAT team to do it,” Friend testified during a congressional hearing.
“Garrett, Marcus Allen, and I provided crucial information to the committee, which was well-received by Republican members, laying the groundwork for future whistleblowers to feel protected,” Friend mentioned on Fox News.
