Republicans Accuse Trump-Appointed FBI Director of Corruption

House Republicans unloaded on the FBI and its director, Christopher Wray, on Thursday morning, saying that the Donald Trump-appointed official is weaponizing the agency against so-called political enemies.

The House Judiciary Committee and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government today released an interim report detailing "egregious problems infecting the senior leadership ranks of the FBI." The Republican majority alleges a recurring theme of abuse, misallocation of resources, and retaliatory conduct.

The hearing included testimony from three current and former FBI "whistleblowers"—Garret O'Boyle, Steve Friend and Marcus Allen—and occurred the same week as the release of John Durham's report on potential Trump-Russia collusion. Durham ultimately "did not find any evidence that any FBI official or employee knowingly and intentionally participated in some type of conspiracy with others."

Trump took the report's release as an opportunity to lash out Wednesday about various criminal investigations into his alleged wrongdoing, including the potential mishandling of classified documents and whether he attempted to influence the electoral results in the state of Georgia. He also sowed doubt about the 2024 election and the nonpartisanship of the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ).

"In short, the leadership in the FBI is politically corrupt," Republican Representative Harriet Hageman, who last November won Liz Cheney's seat in Wyoming, told reporters on Thursday.

During the hearing, Hageman accused the FBI of perpetuating the "Russia hoax" affiliated with a duly elected president; targeting Catholics for exercising their faith; and targeting parents for wanting to protect their children.

"What we can say in short is that the eye of Sauron has turned inward, and it is burning with the white-hot intensity that seeks to destroy everything in its path," she said, seemingly referencing J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

The FBI whistleblowers in question, as argued by Democrats as part of a 316-page report released in March, have each endorsed "an alarming series of conspiracy theories related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the Covid vaccine, and the validity of the 2020 election." One also repeatedly called for the dismantling of the FBI.

Friend and O'Boyle both testified that they received money from Kash Patel, a Trump ally and former high-ranking official in the Trump administration, according to The New York Times.

"They got a family," Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, chair of the committee, responded when asked about the payments by a press member. "How are they supposed to feed their family? [For] 450 days the FBI has kept Mr. O'Boyle in limbo where he can't work without pay. He's got four kids."

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed without explanation that Wray and the FBI have requested a judge to keep a laptop belonging to former DNC staffer Seth Rich "for 66 years." Rich was murdered at age 27 prior to the 2016 Democratic National Convention, provoking numerous conspiracy theories.

"Christopher Wray does his job as the FBI director where he puts the party—his party, the Democrat Party—above the country, and that's wrong. It should always be the country above the party, it should be country first...And that is why he should be impeached."

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz told reporters that "the FBI has been victimized by political capture" that has led to the targeting of Americans, praising the supposed whistleblowers. He said the House committee's work is building on Durham's reporting.

Democratic Representative Stacey Plaskett ripped into Republicans during the hearing, saying they were essentially taking orders from Trump when they said that Republicans in Congress should defund the FBI and DOJ.

"So here we are, on Police Week, watching House Republicans jump to lay the foundation to defund law enforcement," Plaskett said during the hearing. "My colleagues on the far right are on a mission to attack, discredit, and ultimately dismantle the FBI. This is 'defund the police' on steroids."

When Plaskett asked Jordan why Marcus Allen's testimony was never shared with Democrats, Jordan confirmed that information was not shared by the Republican majority and that the minority could instead question the witness during the hearing instead.

Timothy Weaver, associate professor of political science at the University of Albany, told Newsweek that "Donald Trump remains a clear and present danger to American democracy."

"He is, by far, the favorite to win the GOP nomination and will have no compunction about violating democratic norms and subverting our institutions in order to advance his personal interests during the election—and, if he were to win, once in office," Weaver said. "His authoritarian tendencies are supported by clear majorities of the GOP primary electorate and among elected officials.

"He also has people within the judiciary who are sympathetic to his tactics and broadly supportive of his white nationalist and pro-capitalist agenda."