FBI issues subpoena to former Pitt transgender student

The FBI issued a subpoena on Thursday to a transgender individual who was expelled from Pitt in… The FBI issued a subpoena on Thursday to a transgender individual who was expelled from Pitt in January in connection to the string of bomb threats on campus.

Seamus Johnston, previously a computer science major and honors student at Pitt-Johnstown, and his partner, Katherine Anne McCloskey, 56, will be appearing before a federal grand jury today at 9 a.m.

FBI agents Karen Talarom and Kenneth Buford knocked on the door of the couple’s Jackson Township home and began a three-hour period of questioning regarding the bomb threats at Pitt. The next day the agents separately served the couple with subpoenas.

The subpoenas asked the pair, who both work for the Social Democrats — a socialist party that also advocates for LGBTQ rights — to provide fingerprints, handprintings and handwriting samples to allow for comparison and analysis.

“I figured they just wanted to talk, so I was very surprised when they came back the next day and said ‘We need your fingerprints, we need your computer, we need a handwriting sample’ — that totally floored me. You have no idea what this feels like,” Johnston, 22, said, adding that he is surprised the FBI is investigating him.

The agents also asked the individuals to voluntarily surrender Johnston’s personal laptop as well as McCloskey’s work computer. McCloskey refused to hand over the Social Democrats’ computer, and Johnston also did not freely give his laptop.

Johnston said the couple refused for a multitude of reasons — the company computer contains confidential membership lists and McCloskey demanded a warrant before releasing the computer.

“On top of all that, it’s private. It may come across as being selfish, but there isn’t anything for them to find. I’m not saying screw what’s happening on main campus,” Johnston said. “I’m worried for them. I’m saying there’s nothing here; go look where there are suspects.”

Johnston is a transgender individual, with both his driver’s license and passport listing him as a male.

Jerome Cochran, executive vice chancellor and a member of the General Counsel of the University, said Seamus Johnston was charged in November with indecent exposure, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct after he showered and changed in a men’s locker room on campus.

According a press release from Johnston, the couple is considered “persons of interest” in the bomb threat case, and the couple accused Cochran of unfairly singling them out.

Cochran said that the investigation is being conducted by FBI standards and is not an attempt by the University to intimidate the couple.

“It is not uncommon for individuals who become the subject of a criminal investigation to attempt to shift responsibility to others. Apparently, that is happening in this case. However, the University has engaged in no retaliatory behavior. Instead, the investigation in question is being conducted by the FBI in accordance with its own standards,” Cochran said in an email.

Pitt spokesman Robert Hill said the University had no comment on the investigation.

Special agent William Crowley, Pittsburgh media coordinator for the FBI, previously said that the FBI was cooperating with the University in the investigation.

City police have also previously said that Pitt police are in charge of the investigation.

The FBI did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

Johnston said that while he is nervous, he is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

“They don’t have any evidence against us, so I hope it’s the end of it. I really, really hope that. I have to be realistic and realize if it’s to harass me, they’re going to keep doing it. I’m hopeful, but I’m also really scared,” he said.