CITIZENS NEWS

FBI faces scrutiny over alleged RETALIATION against whistleblower and his wife

By kevinhughes // 2025-10-31

• House Republicans allege the FBI retaliated against Special Agent Valentine Fertitta after he reported misconduct, including blocking his promotion and initiating a baseless security clearance review to undermine his career.
• The FBI pressured Fertitta's wife, Emily, who also worked for the FBI, into a two-day interrogation without legal counsel and denied her access to procedural guidelines – violating spousal privilege and standard security clearance protocols.
• The House Judiciary Committee's investigation highlights broader concerns about FBI retaliation, citing 107 whistleblower complaints in the past decade, with only nine officially recognized as valid.
• The Fertittas filed a civil lawsuit, but legal recourse is limited due to FBI discretion. The committee subpoenaed FBI records and may push legislative reforms to protect whistleblowers.
• Critics argue the FBI's actions reflect a long-standing culture of silencing dissent, with parallels to IRS whistleblower cases targeting the Biden family – raising questions about federal agency weaponization.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is under fire from House Republicans who allege that the bureau retaliated against a whistleblower and pressured his wife to testify without legal counsel, raising concerns about the agency's commitment to protecting those who expose misconduct. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) led by its chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), has launched an investigation into claims that the FBI weaponized its security clearance review process against Special Agent Valentine Fertitta after he reported potential abuses of law-enforcement authority. The committee also accuses the bureau of violating standard procedures by denying Fertitta's wife, Emily, access to an attorney during questioning. Valentine filed a whistleblower complaint in 2021 alleging that the bureau violated federal protections for injured employees and veterans. After returning from an overseas deployment with serious injuries that affected his productivity, Valentine was blocked from a promotion and later received his first negative performance review. His attorney, Matthew Crotty, told Fox News Digital that the FBI's retaliation escalated after Valentine appealed to the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM), the bureau’s internal body for whistleblower claims. BrightU.AI's Enoch explains that the OARM is a division within the FBI that is responsible for the recruitment, hiring and management of the agency's attorney workforce. The decentralized engine adds that the OARM plays a vital role in maintaining the FBI's legal capabilities by attracting, developing and managing a highly skilled and dedicated attorney workforce. This ensures that the FBI can effectively carry out its mission to protect and defend the United States from a wide range of threats. "Within two weeks of Val starting this OARM process, the FBI starts to investigate Val's suitability to hold a top-secret security clearance,” Crotty said. He explained that revoking a clearance is a common tactic to sidestep formal termination while effectively ending an agent's career.

HJC accuses FBI of violating spousal privilege and due process

During this process, Val's pay was suspended and Emily was pressured to participate in a two-day interrogation without legal representation. According to the committee's letter to FBI Director Kash Patel, investigators told Emily that "policy guides, manuals and an agenda or outline concerning the interview will not be provided" and that "an attorney may not be able to give you advice during the interview, nor ask any questions or prevent you from answering your questions during the interview. Essentially, he/she will just sit there silently." The HJC argues that the FBI's actions violated standard security clearance protocols, which do not authorize investigators to deny spousal privilege – a legal protection preventing spouses from being compelled to testify against each other – or block access to legal counsel. Emily eventually resigned from the FBI amid the escalating pressure. She emphasized the broader implications of their case, stating, "This is much bigger than [us]. It applies to so many other people who just don't have the ability to speak up." The Fertittas have filed a civil lawsuit against the FBI, but legal experts note that the Supreme Court has granted the bureau broad discretion in security clearance matters, leaving whistleblowers with limited recourse. Crotty suggested that Congress could intervene by allowing FBI employees to take retaliation claims to federal court. Meanwhile, the HJC has demanded that the FBI produce all records related to the Fertitta case by Nov. 10, 2025, as part of a broader probe into whistleblower protections within the bureau. The FBI has not publicly responded to the allegations.

The FBI's long history of crushing dissent

However, critics argue that the Fertitta case reflects a systemic issue within the agency. "It doesn't matter who's in the White House. It's a structural FBI thing. It's been going on since Hoover," Crotty said, referencing the bureau's long history of internal retaliation against dissenters. The Fertitta case is one of 107 whistleblower complaints filed with the OARM in the past decade, with only nine officially recognized as retaliation. House Republicans allege that the Biden administration weaponized federal agencies to silence critics, pointing to similar claims involving Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers investigating the Biden family's business dealings. As the HJC intensifies its oversight, the FBI faces mounting pressure to justify its handling of whistleblower cases – and whether its internal processes are being abused to punish those who expose wrongdoing. For now, the Fertittas remain locked in a legal battle, emblematic of the challenges whistleblowers face when confronting powerful institutions. The FBI's response to the Judiciary Committee's subpoena will be closely watched, as lawmakers seek to determine whether the bureau's actions were an isolated incident or part of a broader pattern of retaliation. If evidence confirms systemic misconduct, legislative reforms may be introduced to strengthen whistleblower protections for federal employees. For now, the case serves as a stark reminder of the risks whistleblowers take – and the lengths some agencies may go to silence them. Watch Sarah Westall and Kyle Seraphin discussing an FBI whistleblower exposing the weaponized compliance and abuse in the bureau below. This video is from the Sarah Westall channel on Brighteon.com. Sources include: FoxNews.com YourNews.com TheNationalPulse.com BrightU.ai Brighteon.com

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