(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Examining how U.S. security agencies propagandize the American public will be one of the top priorities of the newly created select subcommittee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government, according to committee member Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C.
Bishop was one of the 20 Freedom Caucus members to extract concessions from Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., before making him House Speaker—one of the key concessions being a “Church-style” committee to investigate U.S. security agencies. Republicans are aiming to model the committee after the 1970s-era commission headed by former Senator Frank Church, which discovered shocking secrets such as CIA assassination plots, mind-control experimentation and FBI operations to infiltrate political and civil-rights organizations.
In an interview published Monday by the conservative organization American Moment, Bishop expressed optimism that the new House committee will uncover equally shocking revelations.
Bishop said he’s not looking to investigate partisan or “inside baseball” issues such as classified document storage—but instead more consequential matters such as how the U.S. government shapes the public’s view of reality.
Bishop said the recent disclosures made in the Twitter Files—a trove of internal emails and other records showing the inner workings of the company—demonstrates “how widely our entire social fabric is being manipulated, and our thoughts massaged and managed.” Bishop was referencing how Twitter would censor content at the behest of the FBI.
The congressman said Twitter is only a “peon” compared to tech giants such as Facebook and Google. Bishop said a full investigation is necessary to determine “how the people of the United States are having their choices and their destiny manipulated by a government that’s supposed to serve them.”
Bishop also said he aims to investigate the FBI’s undercover operations, which have come under scrutiny in recent years due to cases such as the Whitmer kidnap conspiracy. In that case, a group of militia members were accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in October 2020, but it has since been revealed that the FBI had at least 12 undercover informants, some who allegedly encouraged the plot.
Bishop acknowledged that he has an uphill battle when it comes to investigating the FBI. The DOJ already denied him information about the Whitmer case last year on the grounds that its investigation is still ongoing—even though charges have already been made in the case.
Bishop said he expects to have at least the amount of resources to pursue these issues as the Democratic-controlled Jan. 6 Committee.
“The deal we made is it would have all the funding and staffing as the Jan. 6 Committee,” he said, noting that the Church commission was funded with about $4.5 million—when adjusted for inflation—and had about 135 staff members.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
