FBI Whistleblowers Punished for Resisting the Biden Administration Win Settlements; Three ‘Suspendables’ Reinstated

The FBI has finalized settlement agreements with 10 whistleblowers who maintain they had their security clearances revoked and were placed on unpaid leave during the Biden administration for their political beliefs and personal objections to initiatives like Covid-19 vaccine mandates and the aggressive prosecutions of January 6 protesters, attorneys for the whistleblowers announced Tuesday. As part of the agreement, three members of the “Suspendables,” the self-designated nickname for the outspoken group of FBI whistleblowers, will be reinstated. This despite the fact that some of the other Suspendables have recently called for the FBI to be dismantled and questioned whether the 117-year-old law enforcement agency should “continue to exist.”All 10 whistleblowers will receive lump-sum payments for damages, while other agents will have full back pay and benefits restored, a nonprofit organization that represented the 10 whistleblowers, Empower Oversight, announced Tuesday. The three reinstated Suspendables — Steve Friend, Garret O’Boyle, and Zachary Schoffstall — are expected to return to duty at their local field offices, Empower Oversight’s president, Tristan Leavitt, tells The New York Sun. From left, suspended FBI special agent Garret O’Boyle, former FBI agent Steve Friend, and suspended FBI agent Marcus Allen recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a hearing before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the House Judiciary Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on May 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesMr. Friend, who had served as a special agent in the bureau’s Daytona, Florida, field office, said he was suspended for objecting to the use of a SWAT team to arrest a January 6 participant on a misdemeanor charge. Mr. O’Boyle maintained that he was punished after raising concerns over the FBI’s “weaponized” investigations into a conservative activist group, Project Veritas, and his personal objections to the bureau’s vaccination policy, which did not take into account his religious objections.Both Messrs. O’Boyle and Friend testified before Congress about politicization within the FBI and what they said was the bureau’s retaliation against whistleblowers. Both men, who co-host “The American Radicals Podcast,” have criticized the FBI director, Kash Patel, for participating in “some dumb photo op,” and being “obsessed with public relations,” They are also openly questioning whether the bureau should continue to exist.The Federal Bureau of Investigation director, Kash Patel, speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesIn 2023, Mr. Friend, writing in the Federalist, called for Congress to disarm the FBI and “force it to partner with local law enforcement agencies for any investigative and enforcement activities.”“The answer to a weaponized FBI may not exist in defunding the bureau, merely disarming it,” Mr. Friend wrote. “If Republicans disarm the FBI, they will ensure it can never inflict a mortal wound upon citizens regardless of who holds federal power.”“Back to work,” Mr. Friend posted on his X account Tuesday, alongside a passage from the Book of Genesis.Four of the agreements between the FBI and other whistleblowers will “involve or facilitate voluntary retirements.” No resignations were required as part of the agreement, Empower Oversight said.Suspended FBI special agent Garret O’Boyle testifies during a hearing before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the House Judiciary Committee at Rayburn House Office Building on May 18, 2023, on Capitol Hill. Alex Wong/Getty ImagesSenator Charles Grassley, a Republican of Iowa, praised Attorney General Pam Bondi, Mr. Patel, and his deputy, Daniel Bongino, for their “unyielding efforts to prioritize accountability and bring closure” to the 1- whistleblowers.“Whistleblowers risk it all for the sake of simply telling the truth. These 10 whistleblowers’ brave actions were met with intense bureaucratic blowback that caused severe financial and emotional hardship. Their lives were upended for years, but I never stopped fighting until things were made right,” Mr. Grassley said in a statement.The agreements had been in the works since Mr. Patel was confirmed as FBI director in February and had been awaiting sign-off from the Department of Justice, an FBI official tells the Sun.Another “Suspendable,” Kyle Seraphin, was not included in the agreements as he was not represented by Empower Oversight.

FBI Whistleblowers Punished for Resisting the Biden Administration Win Settlements; Three ‘Suspendables’ Reinstated

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