FBI ‘Called Bluff’ on Jim Jordan Hearing, Says Ex-Asst. Director

Former FBI Assistant Director for Counterintelligence Frank Figliuzzi was critical Thursday of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and other House Republicans after the FBI sent a letter to Jordan saying that two of his witnesses, who would go on to testify before the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, had their security clearances revoked in May.

The letter says that former FBI agent Stephen Friend and current agent Marcus Allen, who is now suspended without pay, were stripped of their clearances due to security concerns, The Washington Post reported late Wednesday. Each were summoned to Congress by Republicans to claim they faced retaliation by the bureau in part for how they responded to the FBI’s investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection. Yet Friend, for instance, has embraced Jan. 6 conspiracy theories and has even been paid by Trump loyalist Kash Patel, according to Democrats on the committee, The New York Times reported in March.

Appearing on MSNBC’s Deadline White House, Figliuzzi was asked by anchor Nicolle Wallace about the letter from FBI acting assistant director Christopher Dunham, as well as a letter to Friend from Jennifer Moore, the FBI’s executive assistant director of human resources, explaining his clearance revocation.

“Essentially, Jim Jordan wasn’t ready for this. The FBI has called his bluff with this letter,” said Figliuzzi, an NBC News national security analyst. “It means the FBI has about had it with the myth that they’re retaliating against employees for merely expressing conservative opinions. I lost the date, but apparently we’re to believe the FBI is a left-wing liberal organization. That’s absolutely nonsense.”

“What Jim Jordan was going to do was put out a fictional account, right, [that] these poor, pathetic employees have lost their jobs because they merely expressed contrary opinions to the deep state FBI,” Figliuzzi continued. “In my 25 years at the bureau, including positions as chief inspector and a chief of an [Office of Professional Responsibility] internal affairs unit, I have never seen this much come out, and it shows the absolute disgrace that these employees have made of their roles and their missions.”

Allen, according to Dunham, “failed to provide relevant information to an FBI Special Agent (SA) regarding subjects who were allegedly involved in criminal activity at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.” Durham also wrote that Allen showed “sympathy for persons or organizations that advocate, threaten or use force of violence… in an effort to prevent federal government personnel from performing their official duties.”

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