FBI Whistleblower Claims Many Agents ‘Don’t Agree’ With Bureau’s Direction

FBI Whistleblower Claims Many Agents ‘Don’t Agree’ With Bureau’s Direction
FBI agents in Washington on June 3, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Jack Phillips
9/25/2022
Updated:
9/26/2022
0:00

An FBI whistleblower recently came forward to warn about the politicization at the FBI, saying that the bureau is spying on law-abiding Americans and that many of its domestic counterterrorism cases are tantamount to “entrapment.”

Kyle Seraphin, who has spent six years in the FBI, was suspended without pay and can’t seek another job without quitting or asking for permission.

“The number of guys who say, ‘I don’t agree with what’s going on here, but I’ve got three years to retire,’ it’s heartbreaking,” he told podcast host Dan Bongino in a Sept. 22 interview.
In one instance, Seraphin said he was forced to blow the whistle last year when Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers that the Department of Justice wasn’t targeting parents. He first provided a member of Congress with an email that was circulated within the FBI that stated Garland ordered the usage of the PATRIOT Act against protesting parents with a tag, “EDUOFFICIALS.”

At the time, in May, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mike Johnson (R-La.) asserted that the investigations involved parents who were “upset about mask mandates and state elected officials who publicly voiced opposition to vaccine mandates,” while accusing Garland of making false statements to Congress.

But of that investigation, Seraphin suggested the FBI is targeting individuals for political purposes.

“That’s when you become part of political hatchet jobs, and I didn’t sign up for that, and nobody I know signed up for that either,” he told Bongino. “That’s not what people want to get involved in.”

Later in the interview, Seraphin suggested that more FBI employees will come forward in the future because of the bureau’s now-partisan nature.

At least 14 FBI whistleblowers have come forward in recent months to provide information about recent actions inside the bureau, Jordan said about the FBI’s investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach, parents at school board meetings, and Hunter Biden’s laptop.

‘Entrapment’

In an interview with The Washington Times last week, Seraphin said the bureau’s investigations into domestic violent extremism, white nationalists, and right-wing extremists are mostly entrapment operations with questionable moral and ethical underpinnings.

“My team was deployed to 20 or 25 different high-profile, national terrorism organization or terrorism investigations between 2018 and 2021. And what I saw, as the most obvious statement, is that there are three things about counterterrorism investigations,” he said.

Seraphin stated: “Number one, the demand for white supremacy vastly outstrips the supply of white supremacy.

“Number two, the FBI‘s playbook, when it comes to counterterrorism investigations, is always and unequivocally morally equivalent to entrapment, even if there’s a legal definition that allows them to skirt that.”

As for No. 3, Seraphin told the Washington Times that the bureau doesn’t have an objective metric on how it prioritizes cases.

“There’s an entirely ridiculous internal process for determining every single national priority,” the whistleblower said.

A bureau spokesperson told The Epoch Times that claims about entrapment lack merit.

“This comment is inaccurate and represents a clear misunderstanding of the policy and practice in FBI investigations,” the FBI said in a statement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland (L) and FBI Director Christopher Wray hold a press conference in Washington on Nov. 8, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Attorney General Merrick Garland (L) and FBI Director Christopher Wray hold a press conference in Washington on Nov. 8, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Seraphin also touched on the Aug. 8 raid at former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has often said that the search was political in nature.

Recalling the search, Seraphin appeared to question the involvement of the FBI agents and added that he wouldn’t participate if he were asked.

“You ask me to go raid President Obama’s house, you ask me to raid President Bush’s house, it’s not happening,” he said. “It’s not happening. I’m sorry, it’s not happening. I’m not doing that. I’m going to be, probably pretty vocal. That’s probably going to be my last day.”

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter
Related Topics