Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) tried and failed to connect an FBI whistleblower to a random Twitter account, attempting to discredit the whistleblower by claiming he promoted a conspiracy theory about the January 6 Capitol protests.
During a Thursday hearing of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Sánchez attempted to corner suspended FBI staff operations specialist Marcus Allen with a conspiracy theory tweet that he never sent.
“Mr. Allen, have you ever used Twitter. Yes or no?” the Democrat congresswoman asked.
“I have utilized Twitter, yes ma’am,” the whistleblower responded.
Sánchez then read a random Twitter username out loud, “@MarcusA97050645?” — demanding to know whether the account belonged to Allen. Her only evidence for this was that the account’s display name was “Marcus Allen,” which is a relatively common name.
It would appear Linda Sanchez found a random Twitter account with 118 followers with the same name as the witness that she brought to the hearing and claimed was his haha. pic.twitter.com/Ix4QajY0I1
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 18, 2023
“That is absolutely not my account,” Allen told the congresswoman.
Of course, that didn’t deter Sánchez. Instead, a hilarious exchange ensued — which soon went viral on Twitter.
“OK, that’s not your account. Well, on Dec. 5, 2022, an account under the name ‘Marcus Allen’ retweeted a tweet that said quote —” the Democrat congresswoman said.
“That is not my account, ma’am,” Allen stated again.
“You haven’t let me finish the question, sir,” Sánchez snapped. “You haven’t let me finish the question, and the time is mine. On Dec. 5, 2022, an account under the name of ‘Marcus Allen’ retweeted a tweet that said, ‘Nancy Pelosi staged January 6. Retweet if you agree.’ Do you agree with that statement, yes or no?”
Allen once again pointed out that the account did not belong to him, seemingly wondering why she would continue with this line of questioning when she had already failed at her objective.
“That is— I don’t— no, ma’am, that is not my account at all, I have no idea—” he responded.
Sánchez refused to give up on her attempt to corner the whistleblower, repeatedly asking him the question until he finally said “No.”
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) asks FBI whistleblower Marcus Allen to respond to a tweet saying that Nancy Pelosi staged January 6 from a Twitter account under his name.
It turned out to not be his account but she asks him if he agrees with the tweet anyway. pic.twitter.com/ZrjsrM2Kty
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 18, 2023
Meanwhile, Allen made some serious allegations during his testimony before the committee — stating that the FBI had retaliated against him for having “questioned the official narrative of the events of January 6.”
Despite honorably serving his country for two decades, the FBI punished the whistleblower for holding “conspiratorial views” about the January 6 Capitol protests — and claimed that he “sympathize[s] with criminal conduct” and questioned his allegiance to the United States.
Allen has vehemently denied holding any “conspiratorial views,” and denied the other allegations against him.
Social media users mocked Sánchez mercilessly for her failed gotcha moment.
“’Ok it’s not you, but do you agree with what this bot account retweeted?’ You don’t have to have one functioning brain cell to work in congress as a D,” wrote Sara Rose.
"Ok it's not you, but do you agree with what this bot account retweeted?"🤣
You don't have to have one functioning brain cell to work in congress as a D.— Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 (@saras76) May 18, 2023
“Linda is low class,” wrote another Twitter user, sharing another viral video of Sánchez where she was seen giving her Republican colleagues the middle finger during a friendly congressional baseball game.
Linda is low class https://t.co/KcmkvgrLzi
— KCinQC (@qc_cin) May 18, 2023
