FBI whistleblower alleges bureau improperly suspended security clearance for agents with 'conservative views'

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An FBI whistleblower is alleging that the bureau improperly suspended security clearance for agents with "conservative views."

Fox News obtained a complaint sent last week to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DOJ Inspector General from a whistleblower – a supervisor and a registered Democrat – alleging that the "FBI’s Security Division improperly suspended or revoked employees’ security clearances whose political views, medical views, or even ethnicity were questioned by Security Division leadership." The whistleblower's representation, Tristan Leavitt, the president of right-leaning public integrity group Empower Oversight, also notified the House and Senate Judiciary Committees of the complaint.

"The outcomes of clearance investigations and adjudications were often pre-determined by the Division’s acting Deputy Assistant Director and the acting Section Chief responsible for security clearance investigations and adjudications, who often overruled line staff and even dictated the wording of documents in the clearance process," the complaint stated.

"Over the last few years, the FBI has used the clearance process as a means to force employees out of the FBI by inflicting severe financial distress: suspending their clearance, suspending them from duty without pay, requiring them to obtain permission to take any other job while stuck in this unpaid