House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenaed a top human resources official at the FBI late Monday, compelling testimony from Jennifer Leigh Moore hours after she appeared for a voluntary interview with the panel.
“Today, Chairman Jordan issued a subpoena to Jennifer Leigh Moore, Executive Assistant Director of Human Resources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after she refused to answer questions during her transcribed interview about the FBI’s retaliation against brave whistleblowers who have come forward to raise concerns about abuses they have seen at the bureau,” Russell Dye, a spokesman for Jordan, said in a statement.
The move comes after Democrats on the panel released a report accusing the GOP of falling short on their whistleblower claims, arguing Republicans had inflated both the number of witnesses they had talked to as well as their claims.
The FBI witnesses failed to legally qualify as whistleblowers, they argued, a status that requires making a formal report to various entities, while the content of their testimony showed they had little evidence of wrongdoing.
Still, the line of inquiry is a major one for the Republican leaders on the panel: part of a broader effort to cast the FBI as wrongly targeting those with conservative viewpoints, whether within the agency or through their law enforcement work.
In a statement, the FBI said Moore only refused to answer questions related to an ongoing review of some of the claims from the witnesses, arguing that doing so would violate their right to privacy.
“Executive Assistant Director Moore voluntarily answered questions from members and their staffs about the FBI’s security clearance adjudication process for several hours. She did not discuss the details of specific individuals whose cases are still under review to protect the integrity of the process and the privacy of the individuals,” the agency said.
“The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’ oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities.”
Shortly after the FBI’s release of their statement, the committee tweeted only, “FALSE.”
One of the Republicans’ witnesses, Garret O’Boyle, a Kansas City field office agent, had his security clearance suspended, which is a matter still under review.
Democrats say O’Boyle refused to provide them with documents dealing with the suspension of his security clearance and noted that he never took his complaints to any Justice Department or FBI offices tasked with evaluating employee claims.