Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley wants answers from FBI Director Christopher Wray about a Nov. 19 bureau raid on the home of a recognized whistleblower.
The whistleblower, Dennis Cain, who was once employed by an FBI contractor, reportedly turned over documents to the Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding the bureau’s failure to investigate potential criminal activity regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation and the Russian company that purchased Uranium One.
Horowitz subsequently deemed Cain a whistleblower protected under the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, Cain’s lawyer, Michael Socarras, told TheDCNF.
Grassley sent a letter to Wray on Nov. 30 asking pointed questions about the raid on Cain’s private residence in Union Bridge, Maryland.
The Iowa Republican sent a separate letter to Horowitz on Nov. 30 seeking Cain’s documents and citing TheDCNF’s reporting.
Cain told the special agent leading the raid that he was protected as a whistleblower, but the agent still ordered 15 additional agents to raid Cain’s home, according to Socarras. The agents searched for six hours while Cain, terrified, sat in the living room.
Cain meticulously followed government procedures for whistleblowers under the act by handing the classified documents over to the IG, according to Socarras. Horowitz sent a top-level official to personally hand-deliver them to the Senate and House intelligence committee.
Grassley in his letter, which also cites TheDCNF’s reporting, asked Wray if “the FBI consider[s] Mr. Cain’s disclosures to be protected.”
The whistleblower act protects federal employees who disclose classified documents to the proper authorities, which includes the IG.
Grassley further asked Wray if the FBI was “aware at the time of the raid that Mr. Cain had made what appeared to be lawful disclosures to the Inspector General? If so, was the FBI aware that these disclosures were passed to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, per the [act]?”
Grassley also asked Wray of “the basis” for there raid and to provide a copy of the original warrant and all supporting documents.
The raid on Cain’s house was permitted by a court order issued by federal magistrate Stephanie A. Gallagher in the U.S. District Court of Maryland for Baltimore.
The court order and all the documents justifying the raid are sealed and not available for public viewing.
On Nov. 30, TheDCNF requested that Gallagher unseal the affidavit and any other documents that served to justify the raid. The court has not yet responded to TheDCNF.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment.
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