On January 10, 2023, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government was created with Jim Jordan appointed as the chair. After reading the letter released in mainstream media on November 3, 2023, I was hopeful this committee would uncover truth for the people. Especially since much of what had been contained within that letter seemed to be realities Travis and I had lived through in 2022.
You can click on the link above for details on the three meetings which have been held thus far including the supporting documents. Or you can watch a recording of the first meeting here, the second meeting here, and the third meeting here.
The first meeting took place on February 9, 2023 which had eight witnesses, two of which were Former FBI Agents Thomas Baker and Nicole Parker. Neither person currently works as FBI agents. Mr. Baker testified about what he perceives to be a cultural issue with the FBI since the attacks on 9/11. Ms. Parker testified about the current practices of the FBI which lead to her choosing to leave the agency under her own volition as she no longer felt aligned with the way she was expected to do her job.
There was other testimony as well, and I encourage you to watch or read about it if this topic is of interest to you. I am choosing to focus largely on Mr. Baker and Ms. Parker here today because of the response they received after testifying.
Mr. Baker hasn’t been an agent for quite a number of years and has written a book regarding the culture of the FBI. He read an excerpt from his book as a portion of his testimony. Thus, many discredited him as a viable witness because how would he know what’s going on in the agency when he hasn’t worked for it for a number of years, and isn’t he just promoting his book anyway?
Then there is Ms. Parker who claims she joined the FBI because of the attacks on the twin towers on 9/11 and began working for the agency until nearly a decade later. Some have mused it has never taken the FBI hiring process a decade long to onboard an agent. Therefore, something more must clearly be missing from her story.
The practice of discrediting those who are testifying in any capacity is so commonplace it doesn’t even come as a surprise anymore. Rather than focusing on what’s being said and examining and testing the plausibility of the information, the age-old game of discrediting character is front and center.
While that wasn’t surprising, what was surprising is the response from true FBI whistleblowers. Former Agents Baker and Parker were referenced as whistleblowers in the media and coverage of the subcommittee hearing. But by legal definition, whistleblowers are those who are still working for an agency who come forward to report wrongdoing within the agency. And Mr. Baker and Ms. Parker most certainly do not meet that definition.
I was surprised to hear discrediting of Ms. Parker by other whistleblowers who knew her, saying she would show up at high profile crime scenes with her blond hair, makeup done, and FBI jacket just looking for her next photo op. These high-profile crimes scenes were not cases she had been assigned to work. Therefore, her motivation to speak out now must be for the same purpose; another opportunity to bask in the limelight. Other comments about her also included her husband’s prosperity, and perhaps her motives for leaving the agency had nothing to do with her integrity or agency policy.
But shouldn’t these people be on the same team? True whistleblowers clearly had a reason to report what they did, and Ms. Parker is stepping up to make that known in a very public manner. Why discredit and undermine the messenger when she is speaking the same truths as the whistleblowers? More evidence of how divided we are as a people. Nearly everyone has a reason to have issue with another, and the more divided we are the less positive impact we can have.
It’s reasonable to understand why there isn’t an overwhelming number of whistleblowers who are willing to testify to the agency’s practices when looking at what has occurred to Kyle Seraphin and Steve Friend. In spite of whistleblower protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act, both of these “agents” have been suspended without pay indefinitely from the FBI nearly a year ago after going through the proper channels to “whistleblow” on the FBI practices. This cannot entice others to want to share their fate.
The second subcommittee hearing was held on March 9, 2023. The testimony came from two journalists, Matt Taibbi and Michael Schellenberger, who have been responsible for releasing the information known as the “Twitter Files”. The Twitter Files demonstrate the censorship happening on social media platforms by government agencies including the FBI. Both men testified to being loyal democrats, releasing the information in the Twitter Files due to it being the most alarming content they have ever covered.
Both men’s reputations were attacked repeatedly during the hearing, and even in the very opening statement when ranking member Ms. Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands) heatedly referred to them as “so-called journalists” and a “direct threat” to the safety of others due to reporting the censorship story.
Probably not shocking, even the tone and exchanges between majority and minority members were rude, sharp, interruptive, pointed, and unproductive with each seeing who could get the last word in. Sometimes I questioned if I was watching a government hearing or a cat fight.
The third subcommittee hearing was held on March 30, 2023. This hearing focused largely on the evidence that was collected through depositions for the Missouri/Louisiana vs Biden Administration case which I’ve previously mentioned. Two witnesses, Mr. John Sauer (Special Assistant Attorney General Louisiana Department of Justice) and Honorable Jeff Landry (Attorney General, Louisiana), were the center of a debate regarding how the hearing should proceed.
Mr. Sauer and Mr. Landry were dismissed after giving their opening statements so they could return to their positions. There was not opportunity afforded to question or cross examine their testimony by anyone on the committee, and this did not sit well with some members of the committee. In fact, the dispute escalated to a motion being made to adjourn just 30 minutes into the hearing. The dispute over how the hearing would be conducted was very distracting from the actual content being shared by witnesses.
Additional witnesses were Honorable Eric Schmitt (Senator) and Mr. Matthew Seligman (Professor, Constitution Law Center). One major concern throughout the committee by the ranking member Ms. Plaskett was the ‘threat to our democracy’. Do you know when the United States became a democracy or whether our founding fathers created a republic? I have no dog in this fight as I am not a member of either party, but I found these questions to be something I could not answer without some research.
So research I did, and I share what I found in my Eyes Wide Open radio show. In fact, you may want to listen to the entire series over the next several weeks where I share how our systems are not broken, but they operate exactly how those who can influence them desire for them to operate and how that came to be.
While I was hopeful in January for this subcommittee to bring to light the very things we experienced last year, I now see the importance for each of us to live in integrity, so we are not dependent upon our government systems for intervention. Additionally, I see the necessity for us to stop creating division. Stop pointing out everything that is wrong with someone else while not worry about our own “wrongs”. Stop criticizing one another. Stop warring with one another. I’m more convinced than ever after watching these hearings and the responses to them, in order to have power and impact in our society we must unite in peace.
Can truth even be found when two opposing forces are so convicted in proving their perspective? Is anyone looking for truth, or are they following their ego’s desire for being “right”? Hopefully this is like spring cleaning where things get much more cluttered and chaotic in order to remove the gunk that’s been hidden from sight for so long, and once you’re done all that chaos and clutter is well worth it. We’ll stay tuned for future hearings, and the revelations they may or may not bring.
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Peace & Love,
Janessa