Rep. Gaetz calls for investigation into allegations that federal agencies purposely hid information from Trump

05/06/2024 / By Arsenio Toledo

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has called for an investigation into allegations that federal government agencies withheld intelligence from former President Donald Trump while he was in office.

The allegations stem from an investigation by the investigative journalism outfit the O’Keefe Media Group in which a Deloitte contractor working as a cyber operations project manager with the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency revealed that there was a coordinated effort between intelligence agencies to withhold certain information from Trump during his first term. (Related: CIA allegedly operating online Ukrainian anti-Trump “troll farms” to influence 2024 election.)

The full published investigation included recordings of various meetings between an undercover reporter and the government contractor, Amjad Fseisi, admitting that the intelligence agencies were concerned that if they provided the former president with certain intelligence that Trump would “disclose it.”

In one published video, Fseisi admitted that the intelligence agencies “all got together and said, ‘We’re not gonna tell Trump.'” He then claimed that the effort to withhold information from a sitting president was orchestrated by the leaders of various intelligence agencies, including former Trump administration CIA directors Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel.

“There are certain people that would … give him a high-level overview but never give him any details,” said Fseisi. “You know why? Because he’ll leak those details… He’s a Russian asset. He’s owned by the f*****g Russians.”

When later confronted by the statements he made, Fseisi denied them despite being recorded on camera. He confirmed that he was currently working as a project manager for Deloitte, and a CIA spokesperson later confirmed that Fseisi had previously worked for the agency as an independent contractor. This same spokesman also denied the allegations Fseisi made as “absolutely false and ridiculous.”

“CIA is a resolutely apolitical institution that provides intelligence support to policymakers, including the President of the United States, irrespective of who occupies the office,” said the spokesman. “We are a foreign intelligence-focused agency and do not monitor the former president. The individual making these allegations is a former contractor who does not represent CIA.”

Intelligence agencies could still be spying on Trump

In a letter to House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH), Gaetz called on the subcommittee to open an investigation and warned that the investigation may be necessary to figure out if American intelligence agencies are still spying on Trump.

“Given that the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government has broad jurisdiction to investigate the role of executive branch agencies in investigating American citizens, any unconstitutional, illegal or unethical activities committed by said agencies, as well as any other related violations of the civil liberties of the citizens of the United States, I am formally requesting that the Weaponization Subcommittee open a formal investigation into the concerning actions allegedly perpetrated by the intelligence community against President Trump,” wrote Gaetz.

BREAKING: I’m formally calling on the @Weaponization Subcommittee to immediately launch an investigation into @OKeefeMedia Group’s bombshell report containing video evidence that American intelligence agencies withheld intelligence from President Donald Trump before & during his… https://t.co/2vUZPkBsQ2 pic.twitter.com/lMG0ZdQXvJ

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 1, 2024