The name of a FBI agent who leaked to the Press has been released.
Washington Examiner:
The name of a former top FBI official who leaked sensitive information over the course of hundreds of communications with at least six reporters can be revealed by the Washington Examiner.
His identity is contained in a 21-page report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The report reveals that investigators for Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz determined that Bryan Paarmann, 53, the deputy assistant director of the FBI’s international operations division from 2016 to 2017, “improperly disclosed court-sealed and law enforcement sensitive information to the media†in violation of FBI rules.
The incident is one Horowitz included as part of what his June 2018 report called the FBI’s “culture of unauthorized media contacts.†A one-page summary of the investigation was released last May.
But Paarmann defended his actions.
“I gave 35 years of faithful and devoted service to this nation and never did I give classified or investigatively sensitive information to the press,†Paarmann told the Washington Examiner. “I never endangered a prosecution and only did what I believed my superiors had tasked me with.â€
He had ties to Mitt Romney:
A West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, Paarmann’s website features a photograph of him standing next to Mitt Romney, the junior U.S. senator for Utah and the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, and states: “C. Bryan Paarmann FBI is a 30+ year career public servant who has faithfully and honorably served the United States in a variety of different positions.” Another page on his site states: “Bryan Paarmann is protective of his country and is a proud American. In many ways, he has faithfully and honorably served his homeland.”
Horowitz’s team reviewed Paarmann’s communications from 2012 through 2017, which showed “extensive contacts†with members of the media, especially in 2016 and early 2017, laying out interactions with at least six reporters. These contacts included hundreds of texts, calls, and emails; over a dozen rounds of golf, including one where the reporter paid for both and another where Paarmann did; private drinks and dinners, including instances where investigators couldn’t determine who paid; a media member’s housewarming party where Paarmann brought wine as a gift; and a $225-ticket dinner, which was free of charge thanks to a member of the media, in violation of FBI rules.
Paarmann and Wilber exchanged 55 calls and emails and met for dinner or drinks four times. The watchdog report pointed to a 2016 article citing a “U.S. law enforcement official,†a “counterterrorism official,†and a “law enforcement official,†which, by matching the phrases, is an article by Wilber about Orlando Pulse nightclub mass shooter Omar Mateen. The report cited another 2016 piece that quoted “a federal law enforcement official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case,†a phrase that appears in a co-authored piece by Wilber and two others on Dallas cop killer Micah Johnson.
Paarmann acknowledged making many improper disclosures when confronted during an interview with the DOJ’s watchdog, telling investigators in one instance: “I may have dorked that one up.â€
But, when texts pointed to lengthy phone calls with reporters regarding investigations but didn’t explicitly show what the conversations were about, he denied leaking. Horowitz’s team didn’t believe Paarmann, saying his demonstrated willingness to divulge sensitive information to these reporters, his knowledge of the cases they were writing about, and his failure to report his media contacts to the FBI made it “more likely than not that Paarmann violated FBI policy by providing law enforcement sensitive information to these reporters.â€
Paarmann claimed to investigators that a member of the FBI’s office of public affairs instructed him to “develop friendly cordial relations with the media so that it wasn’t adversarial every time we talked to them and basically be able to educate them.†But the public affairs employee denied this. “I don’t remember giving any type of explicit or implicit guidance to go out and do anything independent of the office of public affairs,†the employee said. “Especially socially.â€
The DOJ decided not to prosecute Paarmann. The FBI declined the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. Wilber declined to comment.
There are a few things that no one is talking about here:
The first is the fact he was clearly a Romeny fan. We know that establishment Republicans played a major part in trying not to get Trump elected and it wouldn’t shock me if this guys ties to Mitt Romney go deeper than just him being a fan.
The second is that the reporters here are blatant hacks. They received gifts from this FBI agent for propaganda from him? Did they ever question anything that this guy said?
This is how the swamp works. They leak one-sided nonsense to reporters and the reporters eat it up and report it.
I also thought it was interesting he said “he defends his homeland” which seems to be a common theme among people who were caught up in trying to overthrow President Trump.
The Palmieri Report is a Pro-America News Outlet founded by Jacob Palmieri two years ago at the age of 19. Since its founding, it has gotten over 300k pages views and over 20k followers. The Palmieri Report is dedicated to debunking the lies spread by the left-wing Mainstream Media.
