Florida Democrat lawmaker accuses FBI whistleblowers of not being 'real' whistleblowers

House Democrats on Wednesday pushed back on the claim that those testifying before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government were legitimate whistleblowers. 

"Mr. Chairman, these individuals haven't been declared whistleblowers," Florida Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said during the hearing to GOP Chairman Jim Jordan. 

Those testifying before the subcommittee include former FBI officials Garret O'Boyle, Steve Friend and Marcus Allen.

House Democrats accused Jordan and his Republican colleagues of withholding from them the transcript of the earlier testimony of one of the FBI whistleblowers, Marcus Allen. 

Jordan argued that when it comes to whistleblowers, the Democrats are not entitled to the transcripts of the earlier testimonies, and it is at the discretion of those testifying to give the Democrats their testimonies.

The reason he gave for not handing the transcripts over to the Democrats is that when the Democrats controlled the committees, they selectively leaked such testimony from whistleblowers to members of the media who were supportive of their agenda. 

"These individuals have been determined not to be whistleblowers," Wasserman Schultz repeated. "These are not whistleblowers. They've been determined by the agency not to be whistleblowers. Are you deciding they are whistleblowers?"

"Yes. The law decides. Did you not listen to Mr. Leavitt's testimony?" Jordan asked, referring to the lawyer representing those testifying.