Democrat-donating FBI agent hunted Jan. 6 protest cases

An FBI agent who investigated multiple Jan. 6 cases contributed more than $7,000 to Democrat candidates and causes, including President Joe Biden’s 2020 race, campaign finance records show.

FBI Special Agent Clarke G. Burns also donated six times to The Lincoln Project, a political action committee that opposes Donald Trump, who lost the presidency that year to Biden.

Burns, who works in the FBI’s Washington Field Office, has written numerous affidavits in cases related to the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021, and the arrests of defendants who were there.

Democrats have blamed Trump for what happened that day as a joint session of Congress met to certify Biden’s victory over Trump in the November 2020 election.

“In my duties as a Special Agent, I investigate domestic terrorism violations and other threats of violent crime. Currently, I am tasked with investigating criminal activity in and around the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021,” Burns wrote in an affidavit about one arrested suspect.

“As a Special Agent, I am authorized by law or by a Government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detention, investigation, or prosecution of a violation of federal criminal law,” Burns continued.

Burns has made 152 political donations totaling $7,137.28, mostly through the ActBlue fundraising platform, The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project found.

Nine of Burns’ donations, totaling $950, were to Biden’s 2020 campaign for president.

Burns also contributed to the 2020 primary presidential campaign of Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who became Biden’s transportation secretary.

The FBI agent made six donations totaling $1,000 to The Lincoln Project, the anti-Trump PAC. He made one of the donations four days after the events of Jan. 6, Heritage’s Oversight Project discovered.

Burns also made several donations to Democratic congressional candidates.

With several political contributions, Burns listed his employer as “USG,” meaning the U.S. government. But he recorded his job as “fact finder,” making no mention of the FBI.

Federal Election Commission records identify a Democratic donor named Clarke Burns who is employed by the U.S. government, or “USG,” and lives in Northern Virginia just outside the nation’s capital. In several contributions, his occupation was listed as a “factfinder.”

Kyle Seraphin, a former FBI colleague, said he used to see Burns in a park in Northern Virginia close to the address for Burns listed by the FEC.

The Daily Signal was unable to contact Burns to ask for comment after attempting to reach the FBI agent by email, phone, and the messaging app Signal.

An FBI spokesperson, who didn’t want his name used, responded to The Daily Signal inquiry about Burns by noting what the federal Hatch Act prohibits and allows. The Hatch Act is a law that bans federal government employees from engaging in political activity using work time or resources.

“While we don’t comment on employees’ First Amendment protected activities, they must still adhere to the Hatch Act,” the FBI spokesperson told The Daily Signal.

The spokesperson noted that FBI employees fall under a “further restricted” category that extends beyond using government time or resources to engage in politics. That means FBI employees are restricted from campaigning for or against candidates and from engaging in political activity in concert with a political party, a candidate for partisan political office, or a partisan political group.

However, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency that enforces the Hatch Act, notes that further restricted employees are allowed to “contribute money to political campaigns, political parties, or partisan political groups,” “attend political fundraising functions,” and “attend political rallies and meetings.”

One case in which Burns was involved was that of Owen Shroyer, host of “War Room” on the InfoWars website.

Newsweek reported in 2021: “On Aug. 19, FBI special agent Clarke Burns filed criminal charges against Shroyer. The charges are for knowingly entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority as well as disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”

Another case Burns reportedly pursued was that of Brandon Prenzlin, a former employee of the advocacy group FreedomWorks who was charged with a misdemeanor for allegedly entering the Capitol illegally on Jan. 6, although he stayed only briefly. Burns signed an affidavit related to Prenzlin’s case.

Politico reported: “Prenzlin was present in the Capitol for less than four minutes on Jan. 6, according to an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Clarke Burns used to get a warrant for the conservative activist’s arrest.”

Burns reportedly was involved in the case of Florida resident Brian Preller, who was arrested in Vermont on a felony charge of civil disorder and two misdemeanors for entering and remaining in a restricted building.

The Vermont news site VT Digger reported: “According to an affidavit written by FBI special agent Clarke Burns, Preller ‘participated in at least one attempt by rioters to force their way through into the Capital [sic] through the line of police officers.’ More than 2,000 people stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential victory.”

[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by The Daily Signal.]

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