Tag Archives: Kash Patel

The Washington Post reports: National security agencies across the Trump administration are ramping up investigations into alleged leaks to the news media, in some cases using polygraph tests that current and former officials say are creating a climate of fear and intimidation. At FBI Director Kash Patel’s direction, the bureau in recent weeks has begun administering polygraph tests to identify …

Ars Technica reports: The FBI is offering $10 million for information about the China-state hacking group tracked as Salt Typhoon and its intrusion last year into sensitive networks belonging to multiple US telecommunications companies. Salt Typhoon is one of a half-dozen or more hacking groups that work on behalf of the People’s Republic of China. Intelligence agencies and private security …

Axios reports: FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday in a since-deleted post that his agency had arrested a Milwaukee judge who allegedly tried to help an undocumented defendant avoid arrest. Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, was arrested on charges of obstruction of an immigration arrest operation, Patel’s post said. “We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents …

The New York Times reports: The F.B.I. has suspended an analyst on Kash Patel’s so-called enemies list after Mr. Patel told lawmakers that the bureau under his leadership would stay out of the political fray and not punish employees for partisan reasons. Last week, the bureau placed the analyst, Brian Auten, on administrative leave, according to people familiar with the …

The Daily Beast reports: FBI Director Kash Patel has been quietly removed as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives after he stopped showing up to work there, according to a report. Patel, who remains in his FBI role, had not been “seen inside an ATF facility for weeks” and has been replaced by the …

Gothamist reports: Mayor Eric Adams celebrated a federal judge’s permanent dismissal of his corruption case on Wednesday by endorsing a book written by a far-right loyalist of President Donald Trump now serving as FBI director. “God bless you, New York City. And God bless what we have accomplished,” Adams said in a public address. “When all that came at me, …

CBS News reports: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe will return to Capitol Hill to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday as they face blistering criticism over a group chat in which top Trump officials discussed sensitive plans to strike targets in Yemen. Gabbard and Ratcliffe are set to appear alongside FBI Director …

CNBC reports: The FBI said Monday it has launched a task force with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate attacks targeting Tesla, the electric vehicle company headed by Trump administration DOGE chief Elon Musk. The announcement came hours after a bomb squad found multiple incendiary devices at a Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas, the same city …

Reuters reports: The FBI has cut staffing in an office focused on domestic terrorism and has scrapped a tool used to track such investigations, in a shift that could undermine law enforcement’s ability to counter white supremacists and anti-government extremists. The moves, sources said, are an indication that domestic terrorism investigations, which in recent years have largely involved violence fueled …

The New Republic reports: The FBI is moving to criminalize groups like Habitat for Humanity for receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency under the Biden administration. Citibank revealed in a court filing Wednesday that it was told to freeze the groups’ bank accounts at the FBI’s request. The reason? The FBI alleges that the groups are involved in “possible …

CNN reports: FBI Director Kash Patel walked into his new office on the seventh floor of the bureau’s headquarters last week and made an immediate order – he wanted new carpeting and window coverings, calling the office “dingy.” Patel’s plans to remake the FBI go well beyond redecorating. He wants to overhaul the bureau in fundamental ways that could drastically …

ABC News reports: FBI Director Kash Patel, whose proclaimed plans to overhaul the nation’s premier law enforcement agency have rattled many within the bureau, has proposed enhancing the FBI’s ranks with help from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the martial-arts entertainment giant whose wealthy CEO, Dana White, helped boost Trump’s reelection. On a teleconference Wednesday with the heads of the FBI’s …

The far-right Moonie Times reports: FBI leadership is starting an investigation into the origins of the agency’s plan a decade ago to infiltrate the campaign of presidential candidate Donald Trump using two female undercover “honeypot” agents. The off-the-books investigation, launched in 2015 by FBI Director James B. Comey, was revealed by an agency whistleblower in a protected disclosure to the …

Time Magazine reports: President Donald Trump announced Sunday night that Kash Patel had tapped Dan Bongino to be second-in-command at the FBI, after the Senate confirmed Patel as the bureau’s new director last week. Bongino, like many new leaders across the Trump Administration including Patel, represents a radical departure from tradition for his role. The FBI deputy director, which does …

The Washington Post reports: “Mr. Patel will be a political and national security disaster,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said at a news conference outside FBI headquarters — a building Patel has said he would shut down and reopen as a museum to the so-called deep state. Durbin and his colleagues emphasized what they’ve repeatedly described in hearings and floor speeches …

The Hill reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of Kash Patel. in a strict party-line vote, clearing the way for President Trump’s pick to lead the FBI to get a vote on the full Senate floor. The 12-10 vote will allow Patel to be considered by the Senate as early as next week. Patel advanced amid …

NBC News reports: The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to the Justice Department Inspector General accusing Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick for FBI director, of secretly orchestrating the firings of FBI officials, a day after telling the committee under oath that he was not aware of any plan to do so. “If these allegations …

Mother Jones reports: Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters. In this film—which credits Patel as an executive producer—he offers a blistering attack on the FBI. He …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s social media startup gifted more than $800,000 worth of stock each to Kash Patel, his nominee to run the FBI, and Linda McMahon, his pick to lead the Education Department, according to regulatory filings. Patel and McMahon — who both sit on the company’s board — were each awarded 25,946 shares in Trump Media & …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration plans to scrutinize scores of F.B.I. agents involved in Trump-related investigations, setting the stage for a possible purge targeting not only the bureau’s leaders but also rank-and-file agents, according to people familiar with the matter. On Friday, interim leaders at the Justice Department instructed the F.B.I. to notify around a half-dozen high-ranking …