A House Democrat appears to have believed she found a smoking gun to help discredit one of Republicans’ witnesses during a hearing of the weaponization subcommittee.
On Thursday, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) questioned FBI Staff Operations Specialist Marcus Allen — who Republicans labeled a whistleblower — about a tweet she appeared to believe was sent by him.
“On Dec. 5, 2022, an account under the name Marcus Allen re-tweeted a tweet that said…” Sanchez began.
However, Allen quickly interjected to point out the problem in her question as he said, “That is not my account, ma’am.”
“You haven’t let me finish the question, sir,” Sanchez shot back.
She pressed on, “On Dec. 5, 2022, an account under the name of Marcus Allen re-tweeted a tweet that said, ‘Nancy Pelosi staged Jan. 6. Re-tweet if you agree.'”
“Do you agree with that statement? Yes or no,” she asked.
Allen reiterated the account does not belong to him as he said, “No, ma’am. That’s not my account at all.”
Sanchez asked, “Do you agree with the statement that this person tweeted that Nancy Pelosi staged Jan. 6? Yes or no?”
“No,” Allen responded.
Watch the video below:
Rep. Linda Sanchez thinks she's found the Twitter account of one of the FBI whistleblowers…but she seems to have been wrong. pic.twitter.com/oLqGaJ2xkv
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 18, 2023
Allen was testifying before the committee about allegations that he had his security clearance revoked in retaliation for making a public disclosure of “wrong conduct” in the bureau.
An interim staff report from the committee claims the FBI revoked his security clearance and suspended him for sending “open-sourced articles” about Jan. 6 for “situational awareness.”
“Because these open-source articles questioned the FBI’s handling of the violence at the Capitol, the FBI suspended Allen for ‘conspiratorial views in regard to the events of January 6th,” the report claims.
For its part, the FBI says Allen was suspended after he “espoused alternative theories to coworkers verbally and in emails and instant messages sent on the FBI systems, in apparent attempts to hinder investigative activity.”
“As one example, on September 29, 2021, Mr. Allen sent an email using his FBI email account to multiple colleagues that contained links to websites and urged recipients to ‘exercise extreme caution and discretion in pursuit of any investigative inquiries or leads pertaining to the events of’ January 6,” it added.
Sanchez was clearly trying to impeach Allen’s credibility and make him look like a kook.
But when it became clear the tweet was not his, she should have changed tack instead of pressing him to see if he agrees with the view of someone else.