(The Daily Signal)—Two FBI agents who had their security clearances suspended after speaking to Congress about how law enforcement went after pro-lifers and concerned parents, now warn that the FBI has adopted a “Marxist culture” and called for its abolition.
“The type of recruiting events they have—they have adopted this Marxist culture to permanently change our institutions like the FBI,” Garret O’Boyle, an FBI agent whom House Republicans hailed as a whistleblower, said Tuesday at an Oversight Project event at The Heritage Foundation. “Remember, the FBI are the people with the guns and badges who will come after you.”
O’Boyle was referring to the FBI’s decision to publicly champion identity politics celebrations such as Arab American Heritage Month and to use race as a factor in hiring.
The @FBI is laser focused on figuring out what to celebrate this April. Solving crimes doesn't appear to be at the top of their priorities.
Defund the FBI. https://t.co/iZDcvDgs3J pic.twitter.com/hspv5UVh2c
— Steve Friend (@RealStevefriend) April 6, 2024
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against job applicants based on race or sex.@Weaponization @USEEOC https://t.co/WmGxliHBi9
— Steve Friend (@RealStevefriend) April 6, 2024
O’Boyle, who became an FBI special agent in July 2018, recounted that he went to Congress in October 2021 to speak about the FBI’s “threat tag” assigned to concerned parents who spoke up at school board meetings.
“The FBI was stonewalling the Congress when they would ask for information about that threat tag,” he said. “I blew the whistle.”
O’Boyle also recalled interviewing an FBI informant within the pro-life movement, asking questions in light of the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which a majority of justices overturned the court’s abortion precedent Roe v. Wade. He said his FBI superiors directed him to ask the informant about “how they’re going to attack abortion clinics and things of this nature.”
The days after the May 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion saw attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and Catholic churches. Pro-abortion vandals attacked Catholic churches at least 236 times and pro-life pregnancy centers at least 90 times, according to Catholic Vote.
O’Boyle said he had driven out to Virginia to take a role at the FBI Academy in Quantico, and his family was in transition.
“I come to Virginia to report, [and] they suspended my security clearance, took my gun, my badge, accused me of leaking information to the media,” O’Boyle recalled.
Yet, he said, he has since heard from another whistleblower that those who accused him of leaking classified information to reporters knew “that was false from the beginning.”
“The FBI rendered us homeless with a 2-week-old baby,” O’Boyle added.
The FBI suspended O’Boyle without pay in September 2022, and he remains in limbo. The FBI refuses to allow him to take another job until he resigns.
Stephen Friend, another FBI whistleblower, said his wife’s Facebook account disappeared after she reached out to someone at the parental rights group Moms for Liberty.
“My wife’s Facebook account was permanently deleted when she sent a private message to someone with Moms for Liberty,” Friend recounted.
The FBI’s Richmond office notoriously cited the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far-left activist group that puts mainstream conservative and Christian groups on a “hate map” alongside chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, in a memo last year about “radical-traditional Catholics.” A few months later, the SPLC added Moms for Liberty to that “hate map.”
Friend said he joined the FBI in 2014 and worked for seven years on Indian reservations. He then worked on child pornography cases in Florida, where he was told “that wasn’t a priority.” Later, he said, he was put on a joint terrorism task force focused on the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“It was apparent that we were manipulating statistics on those cases,” Friend told The Heritage Foundation audience. He said the FBI planned to send a “tactical team” to arrest a Jan. 6 protester, a significant escalation in Friend’s eyes.
“I came to my supervisor, expressed my concerns,” Friend said. “He activated this process. I had multiple meetings and they facilitated my suspension.”
Both O’Boyle and Friend said the FBI can circumvent laws protecting whistleblowers by suspending security clearances without firing FBI agents.
“Whistleblower protection exists but the FBI has a hack around it, which is they suspend your security clearance,” Friend explained. He said the FBI keeps agents “on unpaid suspension, until they assess whether you’re a threat to national security.”
Although the FBI claimed O’Boyle leaked to the media, Friend said in his case the FBI suspended his security clearance because “I opened the employee handbook improperly.”
“The process is the punishment for so many of us,” he added.
Coffee the Christian way: Promised Grounds
Friend ultimately resigned and joined the Center for Renewing America, a nonprofit organization run by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Donald Trump White House. Last year, Friend published a book, “True Blue: My Journey From Beat Cop to Suspended FBI Whistleblower.“
Speaking at Heritage Tuesday, both FBI whistleblowers called for the end of the FBI.
“I think you have to abolish the FBI,” O’Boyle said.
Local police departments often coordinate with police departments in other parts of the country, O’Boyle noted. He conceded that some federal law enforcement agencies may be necessary, such as the Border Patrol, but insisted that the U.S. Marshals Service can take over many of the FBI’s roles.
“I think it needs to be shattered and scattered,” Friend said of the FBI. “Disarm the FBI … make them unarmed investigators, like they originally were, and force them to partner with local agencies.”
Friend urged Americans to press “our federal representatives” so that “it is no longer acceptable for them to say it is worse for us to have a temporary federal government shutdown than to have an armed law enforcement agency that is weaponized against the American people.”
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.
