Hi, everyone. It's 4 o'clock here in Washington, D.C. with a gap between the reality of our

post-January 6 politics and the Republican Party's alternate reality with its paranoid

delusions about the deep state and the glorification of the Capitol insurrection has never been

wider.

Today's hearing on Capitol Hill, but the so-called weaponization committee led by Ohio

Republican Jim Jordan involved, according to the Republicans on that committee, FBI whistleblowers

talking about supposed abuses at the bureau.

Now, that was what Republicans claimed it was going to be about.

The fat delusion was undercut by the reality even before the hearing began. Washington

Post reported this late last night, quote, two FBI agents set to appear before a House

subcommittee Thursday had their security clearances revoke this month over security concerns

that is according to a letter sent by the FBI to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday

and obtained by the Washington Post.

Those two witnesses are Stephen Friend and Marcus Allen.

And according to The New York Times, quote, Mr. Allen's top secret security clearance

was revoked after the bureau found that he had, quote, express sympathy for persons or

organizations that advocate threaten or use force or violence.

FBI investigators determined that Allen had sent an email from his bureau account to several

colleagues months after the Capitol attack, urging them to, quote, exercise extreme caution

and discretion in pursuit of any investigative inquiries or leads pertaining to the events

of January 6.

And this is Stephen Friend, according to his former employer, the FBI.

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