The FBI whistleblower, now a fellow on domestic intelligence and security services at the Washington-based Center for Renewing America, told RedState why he called House Republicans “soulless demons” after they voted for funds for a new FBI headquarters, and have not taken steps to reform the troubled bureau.

“It was a mixture of being utterly frustrated and disappointed, and the feeling of betrayal because that was one of the, albeit symbolic, gestures that I felt was insufficient,” said Steve Friend, a former FBI supervisory special agent and member of the bureau’s SWAT units.

Friend said when 70 House Republicans voted to approve $300 million towards the construction of a new Federal Bureau of Investigationheadquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, it was a direct contradiction of a concrete commitment made to him by Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

The whistleblower said Jordan committed to him after he testified May 18 before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the Judiciary Committee, along with Marcus Allen, an FBI staff operations specialist and Garret O’Boyle, an FBI special agent, when the three men went to a luncheon hosted by House Republicans on the committee.

Their testimony focused on ways the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted conservatives for harassment, surveillance, and any chance to pull them into criminal proceedings. Another FBI whistleblower, Kyle Serafin, has come forward with similar experiences.

“We met afterwards for a few minutes back in the majority’s offices and had a lunch set up, and he basically said: ‘What do you think could be done to fix the FBI?’ and before we had a chance to answer, he said: ‘Obviously they’re not going to get new headquarters.’”

The General Services Administration (GSA) began the process of building a new FBI headquarters in 2013 under the title “FBI Headquarters Consolidation,” in order to take the current headquarters, the J. Edgar Hoover Building, at Washington’s 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, off the books.

In 2014, the GSA chose three possible sites: Greenbelt, Maryland; Landover, Maryland; and Springfield, Virginia. The agency announced Sept. 23 it had chosen the Greenbelt site, but that decision faces challenges from Virginia leaders—and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

In another X-post, Friend said the reason why Wray opposes the Greenbelt site: “That location is probably a further drive to the airport for him as well. He hates sitting in traffic before abusing the @FBI jet.”

The graduate of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business said he then told the chairman, who was joined at the luncheon by representatives Matt Gaetz (R.-Fla.) and Dan Bishop (R.-N.C.), that the FBI was already building out facilities in Alabama to function as its new headquarters.

“At that point, I informed him that there was a two-and-a-half billion dollar facility in Huntsville presently that was intended to be a new headquarters,” he said. “That took him by surprise. He said they would look into what was going on with that.”

Gaetz and Bishop had been involved in Friend’s transcribed interview leading up to his testimony, but he said they did not weigh in. “I definitely looked at them more as being allied with us. Nobody actually spoke about our new headquarters other than what Congressman Jordan said that that was going to be a no-go, or we can get off the table.”

Gaetz brought an amendment to the House floor to defund the next phase of building the new FBI headquarters on Nov. 8.

The amendment was defeated 145-273, with both Bishop and Jordan voting in support of Gaetz’s amendment.

Curiously, Springfield’s Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly voted present.

In Friend’s X-post, he shared his frustration with House Republicans using information he and the other whistleblowers provided before and after the 2022 midterm elections for their political advantage, but not for the reforms the information was meant to create.