Suspension of Whistleblower FBI Agent Illegal: Kash Patel

The suspension of an FBI agent who raised concerns about bureau policies not being followed is illegal, former congressional investigator Kash Patel says.

Agent Steve Friend came forward in September to assert that the FBI was violating policies by assigning cases to field offices around the country but actually having the cases managed by officials based in Washington. He says his concerns were ignored by supervisors. Friend was later suspended pending an investigation.

“What happened was actually illegal,” Patel, a former national security adviser for the House Intelligence Committee, said on the latest episode of his EpochTV show, “Kash’s Corner.”

“His badge and gun, the means that FBI agents actually perform their duties in the field, were taken from him,” Patel added. “And this is after Director Chris Wray went up to Congress and testified … under oath whether whistleblowers would be retaliated against, and he said no under oath. So he has just committed another offense under the law and lied to Congress, because we have non-irrefutable proof that basically [Friend] is no longer able to work.”

Patel referenced the Whistleblower Protection Act, which protects government employees who disclosure information if an employee “reasonably believes evidences” an activity constituting: “a violation of any law, rules, or regulations; or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority,
or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.” The law also bars retaliation against whistleblowers.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) have said that Friend engaged in protected whistleblower activity. They told Wray in a recent missive that the response to Friend’s whistleblowing was not acceptable.

“The FBI should never suspend security clearances as a form of punishment or to retaliate against patriotic whistleblowers for stepping forward to report potential wrongdoing,” they said.

FBI special agent Steve Friend