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The U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Thursday heard testimony from eight witnesses, including Congress members and former FBI agents, during what NPR described as “the Republican majority’s push to ramp up scrutiny of the Biden administration.”
Established last month, the subcommittee — which has subpoena power — is formally tasked with examining how the executive branch investigates and collects information about U.S. citizens, including as part of “ongoing criminal investigations.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) chairs the committee. He also chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
According to The Hill, Republicans formed the subcommittee “as a way to counter alleged abuse of a government they say is abusing its power to target conservatives,” while “Democrats see the committee as the weapon itself, a vehicle for the GOP to forward conspiracy theories that will mobilize the Republican base ahead of 2024.”
Two panels of witnesses testified Thursday. The first featured a slate of current and former lawmakers, including Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The second panel included two former FBI agents, Thomas Baker and Nicole Parker, Jonathan Turley, J.D., a professor at the George Washington University Law Center and Elliott Williams, principal of The Raben Group, a prominent lobbying firm.
According to Jordan, the first panel of witnesses was important in “framing it up,” while the second panel described “censorship by surrogate,” allegedly committed by the federal government.
The witnesses addressed topics including claims the FBI and other federal agencies target conservatives and other categories of individuals, concerns about Big Tech’s collusion with the federal government and its promotion of “cancel culture,” and the targeting of parents who “threatened” school board meetings.
In reference to the FBI, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Republicans were there not to attack it, but to “rescue” it, reported The Hill. “We came not to trash the FBI, but to rescue the FBI from political capture,” he said.
In introducing the subcommittee, Jordan said, “We expect to hear from Americans who have been targeted by their government,” while the two panels of witnesses were invited to “present testimony and illustrate how the Department of Justice” and other federal agencies have “allegedly compromised American civil liberties.”
Jordan: ‘Protecting Constitution shouldn’t be partisan’
In his opening statement, Jordan said the subcommittee will look at efforts by federal agencies — including the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service, as well as Big Tech, to “suppress information and censor Americans.”
He added:
“Over the course of our work in this committee, we expect to hear from government officials and experts like we have here today. We expect to hear from Americans who’ve been targeted by the government. We expect to hear from people in need. And we expect to hear from the FBI agents who have come forward as whistleblowers.
“Protecting the Constitution shouldn’t be partisan.”
Jordan said FBI agents have approached lawmakers with a willingness to come forward “about the political nature at the Justice Department,” said Roll Call.
Jordan referenced interviews conducted with dozens of whistleblowers in the past two years.
Prior to the hearing, Jordan told CNN:
“We’re focused on the whole weaponization of government, and the idea that the government is not working for the American people. The government is supposed to protect the First Amendment, not have, as Mr. Jonathan Turley said, ‘censorship by surrogate.’”
Johnson: Twitter files show federal agencies ‘not acting alone’
In his testimony, Johnson, who is the ranking member on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and formerly was the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said, “It is important to recognize corrupt individuals within federal agencies that I am talking about are not acting alone.”
“[They are] vital partners of the left-wing political movement, that includes most members of the mainstream media,” Johnson said. “Big Tech, social media giants, global institutions and foundations, Democrat Party operatives and elected officials.”
Johnson tied his allegations to the content of the recently released “Twitter files.”
“As the Twitter files reveal, these actors work in concert to defeat their political opponents and promote left-wing ideology and government control over our lives,” Johnson said. “I have barely scratched the surface in describing the complexity, power and destructive nature of forces that we face.”
Johnson also criticized the federal government’s response to COVID-19.
“Emails also revealed [Dr. Anthony] Fauci’s attempt to hide his agency’s role in funding dangerous research that might have led to the creation of the deadly coronavirus,” said Johnson. “COVID has exposed the awesome power that can be misused by government officials. The loss of basic freedoms has been nothing less than breathtaking.”
Gabbard: ‘Many Americans are afraid to speak freely’
Gabbard focused her testimony on threats to the First Amendment and free speech.
“The idea that we must just blindly accept whatever the government or those in power tell us is true goes against the very essence of our Constitution and Bill of Rights,” Gabbard testified. “Individuals in our government, often working through their arms in the mainstream media and big tech … get to decide what is true and what is false.”
Gabbard said this is akin to the practices of authoritarian regimes abroad, which she encountered as part of her service in the U.S. Army Reserve:
“I deployed to three war zones and participated in multiple overseas training exercises, where I had the opportunity to see firsthand what life is like in countries where there is no First Amendment, where there is no free press, where government deems itself to be the moral arbiter to its people, dictating to them what is right and wrong, what can and cannot be said, who can speak, who cannot, who is free to worship and who is not.
“Unfortunately, right now we live in a country where many Americans are afraid to speak freely, afraid to express themselves, afraid to actually have real open dialogue and debate, afraid of losing their job, being canceled, or being accused of a crime, which could happen if recently introduced legislation criminalizing so-called ‘hate speech’ is passed into law.”
Gabbard added:
“Speech, no matter how abhorrent, is still protected under the First Amendment.
“This fear and this culture of fear and self-censorship is not unfounded. We have individuals in our government often working through their arms in the mainstream media and Big Tech, doing exactly what our founders rejected: trying to control what ‘we the people’ are allowed to see and say, under the guise of protecting us from so-called ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation.’”
Former FBI agents: FBI’s collusion with Twitter ‘shocking’
The two ex-FBI agents who testified expressed their discomfort with the direction the agency has adopted in recent years, and its alleged clampdown on free speech.
Baker said he hoped the subcommittee’s work will be bipartisan, “because the abuses of an intelligence-driven FBI threaten the liberty of those on the left as well as those on the right.”
Recounting his 33 years of service in the FBI, Baker said that, in recent years, there has been a culture shift in the agency.
“Culture is where it starts,” said Baker. “This widespread deleterious behavior over the past several years describes a culture — not just the work of a few ‘bad apples.’”
Referencing the collusion between the FBI and Twitter revealed by the “Twitter files,” Baker said, “That the FBI colluded with Twitter to suppress free speech is shocking. What is even more surprising is the FBI’s explanation, or denial, that they did that.”
“The FBI, by urging Twitter to censor speech, which it could not itself do, was engaging in a perversion, a perversion of the First Amendment,” added Baker.
Parker, who last month authored an op-ed for Fox News explaining her decision to leave the “politically weaponized” FBI after more than a decade of service, made similar claims.
“Over the course of my 12-plus years of service, the FBI’s trajectory transformed … the bureau’s mission remained the same, but its priorities and governing principles shifted dramatically,” wrote Parker. “The FBI became politically weaponized, starting from the top in Washington and trickling down to the field offices.”
Referencing the FBI’s targeting of specific types of speech, including allegations that the FBI targeted parents who expressed disagreement with COVID-19-related measures at school board meetings, Parker said:
“I believe that no one should be targeted for free speech and that violence should never be tolerated under any circumstance.
“No one should be targeted because they want to speak up at a school board meeting.”
Parker said the FBI “expressed” its own “First Amendment rights” by choosing political sides.
She told the panel:
“Although FBI employees have their First Amendment rights, they are not at the liberty to allow their personal political views or preferences to determine their course of action or inaction in any investigation.
“Lady Justice must remain blind. Those that do not uphold these responsibilities cause a negative ripple effect throughout the agency in the field.
“It’s as if there became two FBIs. Americans see this and it is destroying the bureau’s credibility, causing Americans to lose faith in the agency and therefore the hardworking and highly ethical agents who still do the heavy lifting and pursue noble cases.”
Turley: ‘Twitter files’ revealed ‘largest censorship system in the history of our country’
Turley made extensive references to the “Twitter files” during his testimony, saying the collusion between the federal government and Big Tech “may be the largest censorship system in the history of our country … It is a censorship system.”
As part of the workings of this “system,” said Turley, “We know that there were dozens of federal employees who tagged or targeted particular posts and posters for possible elimination and suspension … there was direct government conduct.”
“So, the question for this committee,” Turley said, “is do you want your government in that business? And can we have, I hope, a civil and respectful conversation about that?”
During questioning, Turley said the relationship between the federal government and Big Tech platforms went “beyond [an] informal exchange of ideas.”
He added:
“In these Twitter files, there’s a very disturbing picture that emerges. You have regular meetings between the FBI and Twitter. They even offered to give clearances to Twitter officials, as you have complaints among Twitter employees, that this is overwhelming in terms of the number.
“And what you really see is how insatiable censorship becomes that eventually they were doing what appear to be word searches and just sending all of these postings in for possible action by Twitter. And that included things like jokes and other things that anyone looking at it would realize that this is not a nefarious Russian operation.
“So when we talk about surrogate censorship, we’re talking about one of the most serious threats against free speech.”
