The Security Division of the federal law enforcement agency has allegedly been suspending or revoking clearances of employees based on their political leanings or COVID-19 vaccination status, a claim made by a supervisory special agent who previously served in the division.
As reported by The New York Post, the agent, who is identified as a registered Democrat and is represented by the nonprofit Empower Oversight, further alleges that senior officials within the division held the view that FBI employees who fit the profile of a political conservative were seen as security risks and unfit to serve in the FBI. This claim raises serious concerns about the impartiality and fairness of the FBI's internal processes.
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The case of Marcus Allen, a former FBI staff operations specialist (SOS) who was suspended without pay for over two years, serves as a prime example of this alleged bias. Despite investigators concluding that Allen's "Allegiance to the United States" was not in question and that the suspension of his security clearance was unwarranted, officials disregarded this potentially exculpatory information. This decision was made after Allen informed his superiors at the FBI's Charlotte Field Office of his decision not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Tristan Leavitt, the President of Empower, revealed in a letter to Congress members that the supervisory special agent has since faced retaliation for disclosing the improper suspension and revocation of other employees' security clearances, including Allen's. The agent's full whistleblower disclosure and retaliation complaint were submitted by Empower to the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) and Office of Professional Responsibility on June 28.
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Leavitt wrote to leading members on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, as well as the Whistleblower Protection Caucus, stating that "the outcomes of clearance investigations and adjudications were often pre-determined by the Division’s acting Deputy Assistant Director and the acting Section Chief responsible for security clearance investigations and adjudications, who often overruled line staff and even dictated the wording of documents in the clearance process."
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He further alleged that the FBI has been using the clearance process as a tool to force employees out of the bureau by causing severe financial distress. This is achieved by suspending their clearance, suspending them from duty without pay, requiring them to obtain permission to take any other job while stuck in this unpaid limbo, and delaying their final clearance adjudication indefinitely — even for years.
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Jennifer Leigh Moore, the assistant director of the Security Division, denied under oath last year that the FBI retaliated against whistleblowers. "The FBI does not use a suspension as a punitive measure ever," Moore said during an April 2023 transcribed interview with the House Judiciary Committee. "It is only utilized in national security matters."
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However, Leavitt warned lawmakers that the same officials implicated in this inappropriate behavior are either still leading the Division or have been rewarded with senior leadership positions within the FBI. He urged them to independently verify the whistleblower's disclosures and pass legislation to rectify the abusive security clearance process and protect future whistleblowers.
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Leavitt also appealed to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz to immediately reinstate the whistleblowing supervisory special agent, who was indefinitely suspended just a year before being eligible for retirement. He should be provided back pay and benefits for his time on unpaid leave, Leavitt insisted.
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Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) expressed his concern about the situation, stating, "The FBI’s leadership has become weaponized from the inside out. That’s not just according to Chuck Grassley — for years, many FBI whistleblowers have disclosed the same to my office. The FBI’s political persecution of its own agents is an affront to justice. My oversight of Attorney General [Merrick] Garland and [FBI] Director [Christopher] Wray’s failure to correct this improper conduct and end this scandal will continue."
The DOJ OIG had informed Empower Oversight in a June 26 letter that it welcomed information from "additional employees" about the "concerning questions that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employees may have been asked."
Marcus Allen, a former US Marine and Iraq war veteran, had an FBI security clearance probe case file that eventually numbered more than 1,700 pages. He was flagged for sharing concerns about Wray giving potentially "untruthful" testimony to Congress about whether the bureau had confidential human sources on the ground during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
The FBI has yet to respond to requests for comment on these allegations. The bureau's silence raises further questions about its commitment to transparency and accountability, particularly in light of these serious allegations of political bias and retaliation against whistleblowers.
