The FBI’s Miami field office is taking the lead on investigating Sunday’s assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump—the second time in two months. Fortunately, a Secret Service agent noticed a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence near the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and immediately opened fire. The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, fled the scene in a getaway car but was eventually detained by Florida law enforcement.
Now, however, some are wondering if Americans are ever going to get the truth about the investigation given who oversees the FBI’s Miami field office.
Last year, top officials at the agency reportedly ordered Jeffrey Veltri to scrub his social media accounts of anti-Trump rhetoric before he could be promoted to be the special agent in charge of the Miami field office.
A whistleblower told Congress Veltri was “adamantly and vocally anti-Trump” and claimed FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, and Executive Assistant Director Jennifer Moore were involved in ordering Veltri to clean up his accounts, though the FBI pushed back, telling The Washington Times the claim was "demonstrably false."
“The home of President Donald Trump is located in the area of responsibility of the Miami Field Office. It was well known that Veltri was adamantly and vocally Anti-Trump,” said the disclosure, which The Washington Times has obtained. “Wray, Abbate and Moore wanted to ensure that Veltri appeared non-political, Veltri was ordered to remove all of his Facebook and Social media posts that were Anti-Trump.”
The whistleblower said the bureau leaders weren’t concerned about Mr. Veltri’s “bias against Trump” but whether “information related to Veltri’s political bias can be removed from the public domain.”
The whistleblower said Mr. Veltri, who served as acting deputy assistant director of the bureau’s security division until March, also oversaw efforts to suspend agents’ security clearances if they seemed to be a “right-wing radical.” [...]
The FBI rejected the whistleblower’s allegations and said Mr. Veltri was promoted through a process by the book.
“Special Agent in Charge Veltri was selected through a competitive process to lead the Miami field office and is charged with carrying out the FBI mission in a fair and unbiased manner,” the bureau said in a statement to The Times. “The reported allegations about political bias impacting decisions, the targeting of former military employees, and SAC Veltri’s social media accounts and posts are demonstrably false.”
Mr. Veltri came under congressional scrutiny after whistleblowers from the FBI’s security division filed disclosures alleging that some people in the bureau were trying to drum out agents they deemed “radical” or “disloyal” to the U.S. Suspect behavior included refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccination and participating in religious activities.
Mr. Veltri and security division assistant section chief Dena Perkins were accused in another whistleblower disclosure of trying to sideline agents — including military veterans — by stripping them of security clearances, The Times reported previously.
The FBI, in its response to The Times for this report, denied those allegations as well. (The Washington Times)
He was also the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Security Division at the time the so-called “Trump Questionnaire” was used. His bias against conservatives and those of his deputy, Dena Perkins, permeated the unit. https://t.co/VwowSgqtfh
— Tristan Leavitt (@tristanleavitt) September 15, 2024
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Sunday that Florida will conduct a separate investigation of Sunday's close call.
