Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) slammed the FBI in a letter to Director Christopher Wray this week, demanding answers on whether FBI agents seen kneeling in front of protesters in 2020 were promoted for the move.
Some of the agents who were photographed kneeling in front of the protesters during a June 4, 2020, demonstration in Washington, D.C., over the death of George Floyd allegedly received commendations from FBI executive management. But it is not clear whether their acts during the protest contributed to their career advancement.
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“Many FBI personnel we were trusting to be on the front lines were photographed kneeling in surrender to people who at times were violent,” Gaetz told Fox News. “The purpose of law enforcement is to keep people safe, not to engage in politics. For the last several years, we’ve seen the FBI more interested in virtue signaling and political activity than in just the nuts and bolts in evaluating the facts and the law.”
The Florida congressman claimed he was told by a whistleblower that the FBI was rewarding agents who knelt to the protesters with “plum personnel opportunities and promotions and advancements.” One of those agents, Gaetz believes, is Sarah Linden, Washington field office assistant special agent in charge.
In his letter to Wray, Gaetz asked for confirmation that it was Linden in a photograph attached to the letter and that her promotion was based on merit, not grandstanding.
“Sarah Linden, we understand, now is leading the criminal division of the Washington field office. If that’s the case, we want to know that that was a decision based on merit, not a decision solely as a consequence of a political performance,” Gaetz wrote to Wray.
The Florida congressman also sought clarification on when Linden was promoted within the federal agency and whether the FBI knew of Linden’s “support for the attacks on the FBI and other federal personnel” when she was promoted.
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Gaetz said he did not know the identities of the five other agents who allegedly knelt in front of the protesters, but he said the FBI’s actions were “demoralizing” to law enforcement officers.
The Florida lawmaker gave Wray until July 7 to respond to his questions.
