14 June 2024
US Attorney Jessica D. Aber
US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA)
Justin K. Williams United States Attorney’s Building
2100 Jamieson Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22314
Dear US Attorney Aber:
I am writing in regard to the Hatch Act complaint I filed with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on January 23, 2024 against FBI intelligence employee, Dr. Harry R. Jackson, who has received significant attention from conservative media over the past three years masquerading as a “concerned dad” espousing right-wing sentiments about CRT and DEI programs. I also filed complaints with DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Civil Rights (OCR) on a separate matter. I am contacting your office due to the lack of progress and transparency. I also have new concerns kindly warranting your attention.
On background, In September 2023, a Hatch Act complaint was filed against Anne Donohue, a DOJ attorney at the time, because she had been endorsed by Loudoun County Democrats in the school board race. The OSC took swift action after briefly investigating. She was issued an ultimatum: Drop out of the school board race for Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) or resign from the DOJ. To achieve compliance with the Hatch Act, she resigned. While many people did not necessarily disagree with the OSC ruling, they did see a problem– this was a politicized investigation involving selective enforcement.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jackson, a registered Republican, has faced no consequences, at least not publicly. While also working for the DOJ, Jackson himself ran as a 2023 school board candidate in nearby Fairfax County. (Interestingly, Dr. Jackson’s X handle cleverly alludes to his relationship with the DOJ: @HarryJ4Justice.) Other than being a Republican, the only discernible difference is Dr. Jackson hid from voters the fact that he was an FBI intelligence employee. Whereas Ms. Donohue was open and honest, Jackson was deceitful.
Dr. Jackson exposed his “accidental activist” charade when a talk he presented at the HOPE hacker conference in New York City in July 2022 was discovered on Youtube. In the video, Jackson boasts: “I still support three-letter agencies… right now I’m supporting the FBI… I’m still within the community [IC]. I’m still doing the same things… so I can talk a lot of trash and get away with it.”
In the same presentation, Dr. Jackson revealed that he “self-reported” his “parent advocacy” after Attorney General Garland issued his memorandum, in early October 2021, directing the FBI to establish a school board task force to protect school officials from violence and threats of violence. Self-reporting would include providing information about parents he associated with during his fake advocacy.
He also reported becoming a whistleblower while referencing an article he had written for Real Clear Education. The implication here is that Jackson is Rep Jim Jordan’s “FBI whistleblower” from the school board task force possessing requisite access to non-public information, such as the email from FBI leadership announcing the creation of the “EDUOFFICIALS” threat tag, needed to make a legitimate whistleblower claim.
Dr. Jackson and his FBI supervisors appear to have colluded with Parents Defending Education (PDE) to bolster his “parent advocate” cover by telling the audience, “I’m with Parents Defending Education.” (It’s reasonable to wonder if PDE was created from the beginning as a front.) When he was supposedly terminated by PDE for mocking an autistic child, Jackson was immediately swooped up by Independent Women’s Network (IWN) as a contributor.
Dr. Jackson, a cybersecurity expert, first appeared publicly speaking at a Coalition for TJ protest on September 23, 2020, about two weeks after the FCPS had supposedly suffered a ransomware attack that was reportedly investigated by the FBI. Of note, PDE has a strong interest in school cybersecurity issues connected to CCP infiltration of American public schools.
Ms. Donohue’s investigation was completed in short order. In stark contrast, Dr. Jackson’s investigation is dragging on without explanation or end in sight. The logical conclusion is that Dr. Jackson is asserting his whistleblower protection rights. How long can this last? Apparently, a long time. At the HOPE conference, Dr. Jackson divulged that he is also a DHS Biowatch Program whistleblower; according to Dr. Jackson, that case has been pending since 2016.
Dr. Jackson may have an added layer of defense. The evidence supports the claim that Dr. Jackson penetrated the local GOP and ran for office under false pretenses– apparently lawfully– as part of an FBI operation. According to Attorney General Investigative Guidelines, due to the “sensitive circumstances,” the process of inserting undercover FBI assets into a political organization would have included a review by the appropriate U.S. Attorney, namely your very own Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), and required approval by the Joint FBI-DOJ Criminal Undercover Operations Review Committee (CUORC). If true, Dr. Jackson may have a strong case for qualified immunity claiming that he merely followed orders and enjoyed proper supervisory oversight.
Beyond the Hatch Violations, there may have been other violations of Federal law. Acknowledging the AG Investigative Guidelines specify limited circumstances in which an undercover employee may participate in “otherwise illegal activity,” the totality of Jackson’s conduct nevertheless should be painstakingly scrutinized, with particular attention paid to the impact on the community, to determine if the damage he inflicted on innocent non-targets during the undercover operation was permissible according to current policy and procedures and to ensure any Federal laws he violated were justified and minimized.
The first question was a Conspiracy to Defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 committed?? Beginning around June 2020, in Fairfax County, members of the Coalition for TJ devised and attempted to implement a strategy favorable to Republicans. They did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree to defeat the lawful federal government function of the United States Judicial Branch, including the United States Supreme Court, whose purpose is to interpret the meaning of a law, to decide whether a law is relevant to a particular set of facts, or to rule on how a law should be applied, through abuse of process, by embarking on a journey to defraud the United States by employing dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair and obstruct the legitimate authority of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) governing body to modify and update admissions policy at the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) in a frivolous lawsuit. Ultimately, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case.
The purpose of the conspiracy was primarily to derive political gain by triggering moral outrage among voters arising from a sensational courtroom saga purportedly aimed at reversing FCPS’s decision by using knowingly false claims about the impact of CRT/DEI on said admissions policy changes.
Pouring fuel on the fire they had set, Coalition for TJ knowingly enlisted an FBI intelligence employee, Dr. Harry Jackson, to parade as an “anti-woke” black dad fighting against “Asian Hate” to trick Fairfax County residents, especially members of the Fairfax County Republican Committee (FCRC) who endorsed him after leadership intervened numerous times on his behalf as scandals plagued his campaign.
Throughout the school board campaign, Dr. Jackson knowingly deceived Americans about his employmet by repeatedly stating that he was simply a “professor” and cybersecurity expert but omitting to disclose that his most substantial source of income is working for the FBI. Additionally, Coalition for TJ defrauded the Court in a motion filed by the organization’s representative, Pacific Legal, by referring to Dr. Harry Jackson as a “member” of the organization and “dad” but failing to disclose his school board task force involvement. Falsely representing Dr. Harry Jackson as only a “dad” in court filings may be considered perjury by omission.
Lastly, concerning this possible violation, Dr. Jackson meddled in the Virginia gubernatorial election by abusing whistleblower laws to advance the false “war on parents” narrative, advantaging then Candidate Youngkin and culminating in his victory at the ballot box. (Governor Youngkin later offered Jackson a seat on the Virginia Board of Education).
This next possible violation concerns a potential Conflict of Interest in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 208. While undercover as a GOP-endorsed candidate campaigning for FCPS school board, Dr. Harry Jackson admitted to “self-reporting” his parental advocacy to the FBI in order to supposedly maintain his TS/SCI security clearance. His FBI intelligence duties likely involved conducting assessments on parent-activists and others. While working in the capacity of intelligence and law enforcement, Dr. Jackson conducted political fundraising activities among the very people he was spying on. Jackson raised over six-thousand dollars from small donors. While donations came from Coalition for TJ members, there were regular donors who were likely unaware and thus criminally victimized. Additionally, the FCRC provided over 1000 dollars in campaign materials and services. Dr. Jackson also reported self-loaning over $50K to his political committee according to campaign finance reports, which is peculiar since he knew he had zero chance of winning. Dr. Jackson ran a highly disorganized campaign destined for spectacular defeat at the polls. He reported large expenditures to McShane LLC for political consulting and The Lukens Company for printing services, but it is unclear what exactly he received for the money supposedly paid. These expenditures were wellbeyond what other candidates were spending. In short, nothing in his campaign finance reports makes any sense.
Beyond that, Dr. Jackson was paid and/or promoted by think tanks like PDE and IWN. It is unknown if he did any actual work. Were these jobs for the purpose of paying him to become a whistleblower? (A large financial backer of PDE is Leonard Leo, who is under investigation by the Attorney General of the District of Columbia.) IWN, who has a sponsor-like relationship with WMAL, arranged airtime for Harry several times but never disclosed he was a contributor. A separate complaint has been submitted to the FCC requesting an investigation into the relationship between WMAL and IWN.
As an FBI employee supporting the school board task force, soliciting and accepting campaign donations, getting paid by think-tanks as a non-contributing “contributor,” and receiving support from the FCRC represents a potential violation of Federal Conflict of Interest law. That makes me wonder if a Conspiracy Against Rights in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241 is actually on the table multiple times. Dr. Harry Jackson and co-conspirators have needlessly harmed the reputations of political opponents as well as administrators, teachers, students, parents, and others. Dr. Jackson has harassed, intimidated, and committed conscience-shocking injuries against several members of the community, including children, in a scorched earth campaign against all who dare challenge him or were merely in the way of his destructive path during his illegal run for school board and beyond. (Jackson also ran for a GOP position on the CD11 committee).
Providing specifics in this communication, since many people will be reading it, would create “privacy issues”. However, they are available upon request. Needless to say, in this case, the community knows it was neither necessary nor proper for the FBI to attempt to destroy the lives and businesses of innocent non-targets in the name of law enforcement.
Since I believe I have an understanding of what has gone on outside the law, I have some requests to make. The community hopes your office not only disapproves but will strongly condemn this outrageous government misconduct, especially the FBI’s insensitivity to the interests of innocent bystanders and invasion of their privacy by taking the following actions:
Please determine if the tasking of Dr. Jackson and any other Confidential Human Sources (CHS) was an appropriate use of the undercover technique, and that the potential benefits in detecting, preventing, or prosecuting criminal activity (or collecting intelligence) outweighed the direct costs or risks of other harm related to it.
Due to the “sensitive circumstances” of this undercover investigative activity, please confirm that your office certified that it was properly authorized. Please impose clear limits on law enforcement conduct when you approve undercover operations for “sensitive circumstances” in the future.
In conclusion, the community hopes your office will get to the bottom of this matter to restore the American peoples’ confidence in free and open elections, including local ones, which are foundational to the United States’ democratic process, and until recently had operated in a peaceful and orderly manner in Fairfax County.
To summarize, the members of the Coalition for TJ were willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies to leverage moral outrage to influence voters by instigating a sham lawsuit in an attempt to hijack the judicial branch of government. PDE and IWN joined in advancing the crusade against “woke” culture. Virtually from its inception, these groups colluded with the FBI, turning public-schools into political battle zones, disrupting classroom learning, and replacing a nurturing environment with toxicity. Their unsuccessful efforts to undo the admissions policy changes through legal challenges will have a long-lasting impact. FBI intelligence professional Dr. Harry Jackson is the leading character in this drama.
At one moment, Dr. Jackson is a trustworthy employee “self-reporting” his activities and liaisons. The next moment, he is “blowing the whistle” exposing “weaponization of government” to the GOP House Judiciary Committee. While it’s unknown whether Jackson acted in concert with a rogue element at the FBI or had high-level oversight and direction, it certainly appears his actions were scripted to test-drive the “war on parents” narrative for Governor Youngkin in preparation for his 2024 candidacy. Is this type of thing emblematic of the “spy capital of the world”, as Dr. Jackson calls it?
Dr. Jackson’s phony whistleblowing is something he appears to have been paid to do because somebody is shielding him. The de facto immunity is both disturbing and infuriating. It’s demoralizing to see Dr. Jackson strutting about so untouchable. Dr. Jackson not being subjected to an investigation when a DOJ lawyer one county over was forced to quit her job of ten years for doing much less is a travesty of justice. This is more than being about what’s fair and unfair, what’s right and wrong. It goes beyond hypocrisy.
Please pause for a moment to reflect on the absurdity of this case. An advocacy group managed to litigate a false narrative all the way to the Supreme Court with help from the FBI. Whatever the objective, was this the least intrusive method? As far as the Republican Party goes, it’s mind-boggling that they would be so desperate as to invite an FBI intelligence collector into their organization. Who benefited? It pains me as a Democrat to see a once noble adversary become corrupted to the core. If this is how they choose to destroy their party, so be it. This was their choice. It is now incumbent upon your office to expose this if this country is going to have a legitimate two-party system to check and balance political power.
The ramifications of allowing outrageous and potentially criminal government misconduct to go unpunished imperils democracy. With so much at stake, the U.S. Government’s silence is a slap in the collective face. As already shown, there are serious problems that must be addressed by your office. An immediate step should be re-employing Ms. Anne Donohue at DOJ.
Many reasonable people understand and appreciate the significant benefits the FBI achieves through lawful and appropriate means of undercover operations, but those benefits must be weighed against the risks. Dr. Harry Jackson’s actions in support of right-wing aligned groups and interests have damaged public institutions through the manipulation of, or interference with, political, legal, and administrative processes. For example, the lawfare waged by the Coalition for TJ factored into the astronomical legal fees – around $26M -paid by FCPS between 2021 and 2024.
In conclusion, the FBI made decisions which harmed the community after ample opportunity for cool reflection. In fact, they invested at least two years and countless work hours developing the operation. The harm done arose from their deliberate indifference. The facts establish at least that level of culpability as this operation devolved into a disastrous boondoggle. Dr. Jackson and co-conspirators must be held accountable for the damage inflicted on innocent non-targets during this particular undercover operation, rather than being sheltered behind a veil of secrecy.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
In Hoc Signo,
Robert T. Oliveira
Rhode Island
401-391-6402 or Bobby@quahogsunited.com
Quahogs United 