An official at FBI headquarters in Washington is warning that the bureau’s security clearance division is politicized and can’t be trusted to screen President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for top administration jobs.
The allegations of political bias at the FBI’s Security Division or SecD were revealed in a protected whistleblower disclosure sent to the House Judiciary Committee, which The Washington Times reviewed.
The official said the security clearance process has been “contaminated by the political agendas of [Security Division] officials and other executives in the FBI.”
The process is also subordinate to the same FBI executives who Mr. Trump has promised to sweep out of the agency, according to the whistleblower.
“FBI SecD has been politicized, and both Director [Christopher] Wray and Deputy Director [Paul] Abbate have the ability to examine the background investigations of anyone who is having a security clearance done,” said the disclosure, which was submitted on Saturday.
The FBI whistleblower said lawmakers need to know that the background investigations are conducted by SecD, the same office that has been accused of weaponizing the process and using it to retaliate against FBI employees because of their political views, including conservative and pro-Trump views.
In a statement to The Times, the FBI cited the executive order and the section of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 that names the FBI as “one of the appropriate agencies responsible for candidate background investigations for Presidential appointees, White House staff, positions requiring Senate confirmation, and other national security positions requiring a security clearance.”
“Being completed as expeditiously as possible, the background investigation focuses on character and conduct. The FBI serves as an investigative service provider and does not adjudicate or render an opinion on the results of the background investigation. The FBI’s role is purely fact-finding. Once the investigation is complete, the report is sent to the Office of White House Counsel or the Office of the President-Elect for their use as deemed appropriate,” the FBI said.
Mr. Trump’s transition team has bypassed the traditional FBI background checks for some of his picks and instead uses private companies to screen the nominees, CNN reported.
The decision to bypass the FBI screening for nominees breaks with Washington norms and coincides with Mr. Trump’s unconventional picks, such as former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida for attorney general, Pete Haegseth for defense secretary and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary.
A security clearance is required for some Cabinet posts and that process includes an FBI background check. However, a president can override the process and order a security clearance for nominees, a power Mr. Trump will not have until he’s sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025.
The whistleblower said that SecD yanked security clearances of FBI employees for political reasons and that Mr. Wray and Mr. Abbate will have access to each background check that is performed.
“Under Wray and Abbate, SecD refused clearances to U.S. military veterans, employees who refused to get Covid shots, employees who attended Trump rallies and employees with conservative Christian beliefs,” the disclosure said. “The same FBI officials will be adjudicating President Trump’s nominees. Deputy Director Abbate and Director Wray will have unfettered access to any information that President Trump’s appointees provide during their security clearance background investigation.”
The bureau official also warns that SecD can share the information they learn with the Biden White House.
“There is no wall between the background investigation data held by SecD and the Director’s Office. Anyone providing information to the FBI for background investigations should assume that the information, along with all associated electronic inquiries, will be provided to Deputy Director Abbate, Director Wray or even officials in the current White House administration for ‘national security reasons.’”
What’s more, anything that is gleaned from the background checks can be used by the bureau to send “lead” information to state officials for potential prosecutions, according to the disclosure.
“Based on statements that the FBI top leadership should be cleaned out, senior FBI officials have a personal interest in protecting their positions by providing background information to other agencies or giving informal briefings,” it said.
“Although the FBI may advise that it does not provide interim clearances, it actually does. One example of the FBI executives abusing their security authorization privilege was when Director Comey’s leaker from Columbia University was provided a security clearance or when leadership is allowed to maintain security clearances in order to get retirement jobs.”
Although security clearance background interviews are conducted by agents from FBI field offices, the security clearance investigations are controlled and adjudicated by SecD. Parts of SecD are located in Huntsville, Alabama, but the primary location of SecD and its leadership is at FBI headquarters in Washington.
The disclosure also alleges that there have been “hundreds of complaints of sexual misconduct by senior executives and none of them lost their security clearance.”
Mr. Wray, a 2017 appointee of Mr. Trump, oversaw the bureau through the Capitol riot and almost four years of FBI investigations and arrests of those who participated in the protests.
He has been scrutinized by congressional Republicans for the FBI’s lack of transparency in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, its memo to probe the Catholic Church, the raid on Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and pursuit of pro-life activists who protested at abortion clinics.
There is no federal mandate for the FBI to vet presidential appointees, but the bureau has done so since President Eisenhower was in the Oval Office. Agents conduct interviews with a nominee’s friends, families, business associates and others to uncover anything that might prevent a nominee from being issued a security clearance.
The FBI has White House employees fill out an online questionnaire. FBI agents then perform the background check. When the background check is complete, the information they collect on the White House employee is sent to Sec D.
Sec D then reviews any uncovered criminal histories, conflicts of interest, financial problems, ties to foreign governments or other potentially disqualifying factors to determine whether to deny or approve the clearance.
Concerns have been raised about the backgrounds of some of Mr. Trump’s nominees.
Mr. Gaetz was the subject of a Justice Department sex trafficking probe, but prosecutors declined to bring charges.
He was also the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and accepting improper gifts. The investigation ended when he resigned from his House seat this week. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Ms. Gabbard has frequently taken political positions critics said were favorable to American adversaries, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic who advocates for food purity and unorthodox medical treatments. He has been mired in an extramarital sexting scandal with New York magazine political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, though he was joined by his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, at a Mr. Trump’s gala Thursday at Mar-a-Lago.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.