Andy Biggs: FBI expects Congress to be 'sheep,' ignore allegations of abuse
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., on the debt ceiling negotiations and the FBI whistleblower testimony.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said Monday that Congress will not continue to "go along as sheep" as the FBI "gets to spy [on] and abuse" the American people following a series of damning revelations and whistleblower allegations against the bureau.
Three FBI whistleblowers testified before the House Subcommittee on Federal Government Weaponization last Thursday alleging that the FBI's Washington, D.C. office pressured the rest of the organization toward a political agenda. Former FBI special agents Garret O’Boyle and Steve Friend spoke of politicization and weaponization at the bureau, joining more than two dozen other FBI whistleblowers who also raised alarm about the FBI's political motivations.
Whistleblowers and former FBI special agents Garret O'Boyle and Steve Friend testified before Congress, Thursday, May 18th. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Biggs, who serves as Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, said on "The Faulkner Focus" Monday that the bureau treats Congress like "sheep" and expects lawmakers to look the other way as they "spy" on American citizens and launch frivolous investigations, like the Trump-Russia collusion probe, in order to influence the outcome of a presidential election.
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"So, you’ve got whistleblowers who the Democrats in Congress are saying are not whistleblowers - even though they have done everything they are required to do to be a whistleblower - you’ve got the FBI saying no problem," Biggs told Fox News host Harris Faulkner. "Not only did they come under intense scrutiny under Durham’s report, don’t forget they also blew up FISA over 200,000 times that they had mistakes and errors in FISA compliance."
Biggs made the comment in reference to a new report that found the FBI improperly used warrantless search powers against U.S. citizens more than 278,000 times in the year ending November 2021.
Still, Biggs said the FBI plans to move into a $4 billion new headquarters to replace the J. Edgar Hoover building as the bureau remains embroiled in controversy.
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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) speaks at a press conference on the debt limit and the Freedom Caucus's plan for spending reduction at the U.S. Capitol on March 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"They are spying on American people. They impacted the 2016 election and impacted the 2020 election both in what they chose to suppress and what they chose to provide as disinformation to the American people," he said. "That’s on the table and what they want is a $4 billion new Taj Mahal type of facility for their headquarters. They don’t want to have any restructuring at all. No reforms at all and then they expect us to just continue to go along as sheep as they get to spy and abuse."
The FBI has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks following the release of the Durham report, which determined there was no basis for the bureau to launch the probe into alleged collusion between former President Donald Trump and Russia. Durham wrote that the FBI "failed to uphold their mission of strict fidelity to the law," adding that his investigation revealed that "senior FBI personnel displayed a serious lack of analytical rigor towards the information that they received, especially information received from politically-affiliated persons and entities."
The FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the agency's headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
After the report was made public, Biggs tweeted, "Defund and dismantle the FBI."
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The FBI responded to Durham's report in a statement to Fox News Digital, touting what it said were "dozens of corrective actions" already implemented as a result of the investigation.