House Judiciary asks for expanded probe of FBI response to Portland protests

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) is asking the inspector general at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to expand its investigation of the FBI’s response to demonstrations in Portland, Ore., following reports the bureau’s agents infiltrated the protests.

Reporting from The New York Times earlier this week found the FBI had set up surveillance operations within Portland’s protest movement and that shortly after President Biden’s inauguration, FBI agents walked alongside activists protesting the criminal justice system, recorded the scenes of the day and alerted local police to potential arrests. 

DOJ’s Office of Inspector General is already investigating the FBI’s actions in Portland following a request from Nadler.

Agents were initially deployed in Portland in July 2020 to protect a federal courthouse after protesters had set things on fire, bashed windows and shot fireworks at law enforcement in the area. Their actions during that time raised questions over whether agents used excessive force in their response to protesters. 

“I ask that your office, as part of its review initiated by the July 19, 2020 letter, request instances in which federal law enforcement used tactics like these to surveil citizens engaged in First Amendment protected activity from May 2020 to the present.  I request you identify and review the locations where these and similar surveillance efforts took place; and the length, breadth, and scope of these operations.  I also ask that you review the authorizing processes within the Department of Justice that allow such operations to take place—including a review of whether the political motivations of a particular protest impact federal law enforcement’s response,” Nadler wrote.

“Finally, I ask that you examine what actions law enforcement took during these surveillance operations, including but not limited to assistance with arrests, video footage, and intelligence gathering.”

The FBI has authority to conduct sweeping surveillance when agents suspect a risk to national security or that federal crimes may be committed, but FBI guidelines specify such activities should not have a chilling effect on free speech activities like protests.