Grassley Warns AG Retaliation Against FBI Whistleblowers Talking to Congress Is Illegal

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sternly warned Attorney General Merrick Garland in a Sept. 1 letter that retaliation by Department of Justice (DOJ) officials against FBI whistleblowers or any other federal employee talking to Congress is a violation of numerous federal laws.

“As you are aware, the department and FBI have a reputation for retaliating against whistleblowers that provide information to Congress. Accordingly, I’d like to remind the department that, as a basic matter of law, all employees of the U.S. Government have a right to petition Congress or furnish information to Congress,” Grassley told Garland in the letter.

Grassley reminded Garland that 5 U.S.C., §7211 requires that “the right of employees, individually or collectively, to petition Congress or a Member of Congress, or to furnish information to either House of Congress, or to a committee or Member thereof, may not be interfered with or denied,” Grassley wrote.

This important fact was not included by Garland, Grassley noted, in his Aug. 30 internal memorandum to all DOJ employees that said all communication to Congress must receive prior approval through the department’s Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA). The OLA typically is run by a presidential political appointee.

Garland acknowledged in his memo that whistleblowers are protected, but failed to describe how deeply such protections are embedded in federal law. Grassley worries the attorney general was seeking to prevent any more FBI or DOJ employees from talking to members of Congress.

“Notably, your memo arrived on the heels of those whistleblower disclosures to me from department and FBI employees about the blatant politicization of the Trump and Hunter Biden investigations. Even with your whistleblower caveats, and due to the timing of your memo, I remain concerned about the chilling effect it may have on whistleblowers who wish to approach Congress with information relating to fraud, waste,

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