The fallout continues over a November 8 vote to fund a new headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).On November 8, 70 House Republicans joined 203 Democrats to stand behind the $375 million designated for the project.Congressman Matt Gaetz made an amendment to restrict funding for the new FBI headquarters, only to have many in his party vote against him.“70 Republicans voted to reward the Weaponized FBI with a new $300M headquarters – larger than the Pentagon. Sad!” Gaetz said on Twitter/X.“I don’t believe that the FBI deserves a massive new headquarters or Washington field office…building a new headquarters would condone, reinforce and enable the Washington field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s nefarious behavior.”Gaetz said the FBI did not deserve an upgrade from its “rat-infested” building.“Guess what? Our country is crumbling when a weaponized security state targets the civil liberties of American citizens because of their politics,” Gaetz said on Twitter/X Thursday. “Those in the J. Edgar Hoover Building should sit in that rat-infested building until they get their act straight.”The new building relocates the FBI from downtown Washington, D.C., to Prince George’s County, Maryland. The project funds were first allocated in the $1.7 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill.However, Republican Steve Womack of Arkansas defended FBI building funding in a speech, saying the Pentagon was crumbling in disrepair.The FBI has received criticism for various engagements of late. The agency stalked journalist Sarah Fields in Texas because she reported on alleged Hamas training camps in Mexico and they called on her to confess her sources.“I DO NOT and WILL NOT share sources, especially when they have requested to remain anonymous. Such is the right of a journalist in the United States of America. I understand that the FBI has a few “good guys” spread through out their agency. However, it’s impossible to know who is good and who is corrupt. The FBI is corrupted beyond repair and you will never see me cooperate with them. Right now, they’re acting like a desperate guy who got turned down and has now turned stalker. If the FBI is reading this, kindly stick it,” Fields wrote in a Nov. 7 post to Twitter/X read 3.3 million times.On November 8, the FBI sent a tank into a New Jersey town to try to sniff out alleged January 6 protester Gregory Yetman in Helmetta, New Jersey. They were searching across local hiking trails and bodies of water for the man.Earlier this year Yetman told USA Today he was interviewed by the FBI after January 6. "Everything’s been resolved, everything’s good," he said at the time.However, a USA Today article published last week included Yetman in a list of protesters videotaped at the Capitol who had not yet been charged or arrested. The paper alleged Yetman had sent pepper spray towards Capitol police on January 6.Mayor Christopher Slavicek, told USA Today the manhunt has frightened the community. "A situation like this of course brings heightened anxiety — it's not normal to see FBI agents and vehicles and tanks in your community.""You never think something like this will happen in your own backyard."A two-day manhunt brought Yetman into custody on November 10.
The fallout continues over a November 8 vote to fund a new headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).On November 8, 70 House Republicans joined 203 Democrats to stand behind the $375 million designated for the project.Congressman Matt Gaetz made an amendment to restrict funding for the new FBI headquarters, only to have many in his party vote against him.“70 Republicans voted to reward the Weaponized FBI with a new $300M headquarters – larger than the Pentagon. Sad!” Gaetz said on Twitter/X.“I don’t believe that the FBI deserves a massive new headquarters or Washington field office…building a new headquarters would condone, reinforce and enable the Washington field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s nefarious behavior.”Gaetz said the FBI did not deserve an upgrade from its “rat-infested” building.“Guess what? Our country is crumbling when a weaponized security state targets the civil liberties of American citizens because of their politics,” Gaetz said on Twitter/X Thursday. “Those in the J. Edgar Hoover Building should sit in that rat-infested building until they get their act straight.”The new building relocates the FBI from downtown Washington, D.C., to Prince George’s County, Maryland. The project funds were first allocated in the $1.7 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending bill.However, Republican Steve Womack of Arkansas defended FBI building funding in a speech, saying the Pentagon was crumbling in disrepair.The FBI has received criticism for various engagements of late. The agency stalked journalist Sarah Fields in Texas because she reported on alleged Hamas training camps in Mexico and they called on her to confess her sources.“I DO NOT and WILL NOT share sources, especially when they have requested to remain anonymous. Such is the right of a journalist in the United States of America. I understand that the FBI has a few “good guys” spread through out their agency. However, it’s impossible to know who is good and who is corrupt. The FBI is corrupted beyond repair and you will never see me cooperate with them. Right now, they’re acting like a desperate guy who got turned down and has now turned stalker. If the FBI is reading this, kindly stick it,” Fields wrote in a Nov. 7 post to Twitter/X read 3.3 million times.On November 8, the FBI sent a tank into a New Jersey town to try to sniff out alleged January 6 protester Gregory Yetman in Helmetta, New Jersey. They were searching across local hiking trails and bodies of water for the man.Earlier this year Yetman told USA Today he was interviewed by the FBI after January 6. "Everything’s been resolved, everything’s good," he said at the time.However, a USA Today article published last week included Yetman in a list of protesters videotaped at the Capitol who had not yet been charged or arrested. The paper alleged Yetman had sent pepper spray towards Capitol police on January 6.Mayor Christopher Slavicek, told USA Today the manhunt has frightened the community. "A situation like this of course brings heightened anxiety — it's not normal to see FBI agents and vehicles and tanks in your community.""You never think something like this will happen in your own backyard."A two-day manhunt brought Yetman into custody on November 10.
