Chief of FBI Miami Field Office openly expresses opposition towards President Trump

FBI leaders ordered the new head of Miami’s field office Jeffrey Veltri to scrub anti-Trump comments from his social media accounts, according to a new whistleblower account.

The whistleblower disclosure to the House Judiciary Committee, obtained by The Washington Times, said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, and Executive Assistant Director Jennifer Moore ordered Veltri to scrub his “adamantly and vocally anti-Trump” remarks from his social media accounts in order to get his promotion to lead the Miami field office through.

“The home of President Donald Trump is located in the area of responsibility of the Miami Field Office,” the disclosure obtained by the Times read. “It was well known that Veltri was adamantly and vocally Anti-Trump.

“Wray, Abbate and Moore wanted to ensure that Veltri appeared non-political, Veltri was ordered to remove all of his Facebook and social media posts that were anti-Trump.”

Former President Donald Trump has long decried political bias by the FBI leadership, and the House is investigating President Joe Biden’s administration for weaponizing justice and government against its political opponents and conservatives.

Notably, the order to scrub the remarks ignored the clear anti-Trump messaging and was given to cover political bias during the promotion process, according to the whistleblower.

“For whatever reason, unfortunately, the number one criminal subject right now for the FBI seems to be Donald Trump,” former FBI agent Kurt Siuzdak, a lawyer representing the whistleblower, told the Times. “So you would think they would go out of their way to make sure that everyone involved in the investigation is completely unbiased because they’ve already suffered the issues with bias several years ago regarding Trump.

“It would be a travesty if they’ve actually done the same thing again. The FBI was always designed to be completely apolitical.”

Notably, Veltri is not just anti-Trump, according to the whistleblower, but was acting deputy assistant director of the bureau’s Security Division, overseeing efforts to suspend agents’ security clearances if they were deemed to be “right-wing radical.”

Former Bush administration assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division Chris Swecker said the whistleblower allegations warrant an investigation.

“Let’s say half of that is true, if they wiped his social media clean, that’s something that needs to be looked at by the DOJ and the [Office of] Inspectors General,” Swecker told the Times. “It’s highly improper to wipe things clean that shows some kind of bias. I know they want it off, but then there could have been an inquiry about it, and it could have held up the promotion.”

The FBI attacked the whistleblower as not credible, saying the allegations are “demonstrably false.”

“Special Agent in Charge Veltri was selected through a competitive process to lead the Miami field office and is charged with carrying out the FBI mission in a fair and unbiased manner,” the FBI told the Times in a statement. “The reported allegations about political bias impacting decisions, the targeting of former military employees, and SAC Veltri’s social media accounts and posts are demonstrably false.”

Veltri has been accused in other whistleblower accounts for attempting to remove “radical” or “disloyal” agents who might have held views in support of Trump, refusing to get COVID-19 vaccination, or being religious. He has also sought to remove security clearances for U.S. veterans deemed too radical, according to the Times.

“Repeated reporting on these outrageous allegations does not change the facts,” the FBI told the Times in another statement. “The FBI has not and will not retaliate against individuals who make protected whistleblower disclosures. We do not target or take adverse action against employees for exercising their First Amendment rights or for their political views. The FBI has many employees who are military veterans and we thank them for their service.”