Before running the Miami office, Veltri was the Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Security Division. Several accusations of political bias against conservatives and President Trump have been leveled at Veltri by whistleblowers at the bureau.
One such concern was a questionnaire used to interview agents working alongside a protected whistleblower about their political opinions. The questionnaire was used internally at the FBI to determine whether these agents should maintain their security clearance. The document contained a warning that if someone who received it refused to answer, they could face disciplinary action. On the questions sheet, respondents were directed to respond whether the targeted agent "vocalized support for President Trump." Respondents were also asked to respond to questions about whether the target of the clearance review "vocalized objection to the COVID-19 vaccine."
At the time, Congressman Tom Tiffany asked FBI Director Christopher Wray about the questionnaire, to which Wray responded that it was created by an outside contractor who was no longer working with the FBI. This is a response along the same vein as that given when whistleblower Kyle Seraphin exposed the memo being used to target Americans who attended Latin Mass—that it was not approved and that it was a very small subset or singular employee responsible—not an issue of culture at the bureau.
While the questionnaire was used under his leadership, by the time Director Wray was asked about it, Veltri had been assigned to lead the Miami Field Office. That came with its own challenges.
Yet another whistleblower stepped forward at the time to assert that Veltri was directed by Director Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate, and former Executive Assistant Director Jennifer Moore to delete social media posts he had made opposing Donald Trump. Readers of UncoverDC will be familiar with Moore, as extensive reporting has shown her bias towards conservatives and republican voters. Moore has subsequently retired from the FBI.
In the disclosure, the whistleblower reported that Veltri was "adamantly and vocally anti-Trump." The division Veltri now leads has jurisdiction over the recent assassination attempt, leading many, including Governor Ron DeSantis, to question whether Veltri is capable of a straightforward and unbiased investigation into the latest attempt on Donald Trump's life.
Additionally, the press release announcing Veltri's assignment to the Miami Office bragged about the fact that he oversaw violations of the FACE Act, a law responsible for jailing dozens of pro-life activists working to persuade pregnant mothers not to abort their children.
Yesterday evening, shortly after the incident, Governor DeSantis announced on X that the State of Florida would be conducting its own investigation into the attempted assassination at Trump International Golf Club.
Later, when asked if he had spoken to the former President since the incident, DeSantis alluded to the prospect of a biased investigation, stating, "We also believe that there's a need to make sure that the truth about all of this comes out in a way that is credible. I look to the Federal Government, with all due respect to them, those same agencies that are prosecuting Trump in that same jurisdiction are now going to be investigating this? I just think that that may not be the best thing for this country. Nevertheless, they have their prerogative, but we have our prerogative, and so we will be making an announcement further along those lines in the ensuing days."
You can read the letters written by Empower Oversight regarding the bias exhibited by Jeffrey Veltri here and here.
