FBI whistleblower's wife suspended from Facebook after sending a private message

President of Empower Oversight Whistleblowers and Research, Jason Foster, discusses the mistreatment of whistleblowers and their families when they come forward. 

"The FBI is notorious for retaliating against whistleblowers," Jason Foster told the "Just the News, Not Noise" show Monday. "They're just getting smarter at it by using security clearances as a pretext."

FBI special agent Steve Friend is a whistleblower who spoke out against wrongdoing regarding the January 6 Capitol riot and as a result, he was suspended from his position.

According to Foster, Friend's wife had her account suspended on Facebook for merely having sent a private message. 

"What's been reported to me is that his wife sent a private message to someone who had reached out through an intermediary and asked if there was any way that they could be helpful to Steve given what he was going through," Foster explained. 

Friend's wife had responded by saying she was grateful that the person had reached out and said that the best way they could help was to share the story of what happened to Steve, since he got suspended after speaking out.

"Within 30 minutes, her Facebook account was was suspended," Foster explained. "She identified herself in the private message as Steve's wife."

Part of the reason Friend spoke out against the FBI was that he believed the January 6 investigations were violating constitutional rights. 

"I believed the investigations were inconsistent with FBI procedure and resulted in the violation of citizens' Sixth and Eighth Amendment rights," Friend had written. "I added that many of my colleagues expressed similar concerns to me but had not vocalized their objections to FBI Executive Management."

We reached out, but the FBI has not responded for comment.