Plaskett pointed to people who served the country and committed espionage, attempting to suggest that means the whistleblowers themselves could be crooked.
Stewart: I wonder if they're [friends in the FBI] scared to be associated with you. And I wonder if the FBI tactics of isolating you have worked. Mr. O'Boyle, have you had friends reach out and support?
O'Boyle: Very, very few…I think their First Amendment rights have been chilled as well. I know for a fact that my former [FBI] supervisor had a meeting with my squad shortly after I was suspended, and he told them that I was going to arrested, fired, and charged.
Gaetz: That guide [FBI's Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide On Militia/Violent Extremists] identified certain things that made people more likely to be deemed a threat, or a terrorist..wasn't one of those things the number '2' and the letter 'A' next to each other?
O'Boyle: Yes it was.
Gaetz: The Betsy Ross Flag. Was the Betsy Ross Flag in the terrorism symbol guide?
O'Boyle: It was.
Gaetz: And what about the Betsy Ross Flag makes someone more likely to be a violent extremist?
O'Boyle: I wish there was a reasonable explanation for that.
Gaetz: There isn't. And people blew the whistle and said this stuff is crazy; Americans are being targeted.
O'Boyle: The FBI will crush you. This government will crush you and your family if you try to expose the truth about things that they are doing that are wrong.