Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida accused FBI whistleblower Stephen Friend of “financial exploitation” during a hearing Thursday, citing the impending release of Friend’s book.
“You’re engaging in the self-promotion of your new book, that’s about to be released and what great timing to be on TV and in Congress right before your book tour starts,” Wasserman Schutlz said to Friend during the hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, referring to his upcoming book “True Blue: My Journey from Beat Cop to Suspended FBI Whistleblower.”
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“Quite coincidental. Let’s try to move past your financial exploitation and talk about your objection to the use of a SWAT team to arrest a Jan. 6th suspect,” Wasserman Schultz continued.
Friend says he was retaliated against after he raised concerns about the FBI’s handling of cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol building. Nearly 1,000 people have been arrested for their parts in the riot, according to a Justice Department website.
“I believed our departures from case management rules established in the FBI’s Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide could have undermined potentially righteous prosecutions and may have been part of an effort to inflate the FBI’s statistics on domestic extremism,” Friend said in his opening statement to the subcommittee.
“I also voiced concerns that the FBI’s use of SWAT and large-scale arrest operations to apprehend suspects who were accused of nonviolent crimes and misdemeanors, represented by counsel, and who pledged to cooperate with the federal authorities in the event of criminal charges created an unnecessary risk to FBI personnel and public safety,” Friend continued.
Friend said the FBI violated HIPPA and the Privacy Act in the course of retaliating against him after he followed whistleblower procedures in a Feb. 24 Daily Caller op-ed.
Friend’s book is slated to be released July 18, according to BarnesandNoble.com.
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