FBI Director Kash Patel has taken the unprecedented task of having agents comb through vast amounts of data at the agency in an effort to dig up dirt on opponents of President Trump, a report claimed.
Patel’s appointment to the FBI came amid support from Republicans who believe that the agency was being used by Democrats as a weapon to persecute Trump.
Since his time in the Hoover Building began, Patel has had FBI employees searching through documents in the effort of shaming opponents of former Special Counsel Jack Smith and others, The New York Times reported
Patel has accused Smith of ‘blatantly weaponizing law enforcement and politically targeting individuals.’ The FBI head also launched investigations into the targeting of conservative media figures.
The report alleges that Patel’s team has worked in response to long-neglected requests from members of the GOP, internal whistleblowers and their own investigations, which had been led by former Deputy Director Dan Bongino before he resigned.
One FBI whistleblower even supposedly gave over documents, including confidential grand jury material, related to the investigations into the president.
Allegedly, Trump-friendly media figures and top Republicans in Washington, including longtime Iowa Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, are involved in distributing the information.
Grassley in particular has been trying to gain insider information on Smith’s investigation into election interference by Trump, known as Arctic Frost, dating back to 2022 but had been stymied by Joe Biden.
FBI Director Kash Patel has spent much of his first year at the bureau assigning agents with the task of digging up dirt on opponents of his boss, Donald Trump
Patel’s appointment had support from Republicans in part because they believed the FBI of being ‘weaponized’ against the president, who was indicted after his first term
‘Arctic Frost was a runaway train that swept up information from hundreds of innocent people simply because of their political affiliation,’ Mr. Grassley told the Times.
Since Trump’s election, Grassley has made multiple requests to the FBI looking for proof that Biden’s DOJ ‘spied’ on various Republican members of Congress, including Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.
A spokesperson for Grassley said that every one of the senator’s requests had been deemed legal by a Senate lawyer and that he wanted to reveal ‘facts that the Biden administration hid from Congress and the American people.’
While Democrats have suggested that Patel is using the FBI to run opposition research for Trump, an FBI spokesperson defended the director’s work.
‘Director Patel and his leadership team have overseen the most transparent FBI. in history — turning over 40,000 documents to Congress in just one year, a nearly 400 percent increase over both his predecessors during their entire tenures combined,’ Ben Williamson said.
‘We are proud of our work with the committees of jurisdiction on the Hill and make zero apologies for opening the books of the F.B.I. for the American people.’
A spokesperson for the White House referred The Daily Mail to the FBI and the DOJ when reached for comment.
The reveal continues the controversial first year for Patel in the job which has been lauded by MAGA supporters but viewed with skepticism by Democrats.
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Since his time in the Hoover Building began, Patel has had FBI employees looking for documents in the effort of shaming the likes of former Special Counsel Jack Smith (pictured) and others who investigated the president and those close to him
Trump-friendly media figures and top Republicans in Washington, including longtime Iowa Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (pictured), are involved in distributing the information
Concerns about his leadership were recently detailed in a leaked dossier written by current and former agents and first obtained by the New York Post, which outlined what they called repeated management failures.
Among the incidents cited was Patel’s alleged meltdown following Charlie Kirk‘s killing in Utah.
His staffers also complained to Axios about his social media etiquette after the assassination, citing a post where he hinted at an arrest in the probe before a suspect was actually in custody.
The dossier also echoed agents comments to Axios about Patel’s sartorial demands.
It claimed Patel flew to Provo the day after the shooting, refusing to leave his private jet until given a size-medium FBI raid jacket.
When he complained it lacked enough sleeve patches, SWAT members reportedly stripped patches from their own uniforms and delivered them to the airport.
‘Patel apparently did not have his own FBI raid jacket with him and refused to step from the plane without wearing one,’ the report stated.
During an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Patel rejected the account, calling it ‘100 percent false,’ and said he was ‘honored’ to wear the jacket when it was offered and did so with ‘pride’.
The reveal continues the controversial first year for Patel in the job which has been lauded by MAGA supporters but viewed with skepticism by Democrats
Kash Patel with his girlfriend, country music star Alexis Wilkins. Former and current agents working with the FBI boss have lifted the lid on his allegedly high maintenance behavior
The complaints come amid scrutiny of Patel’s lifestyle, including private jet use, luxury cars, and frequent high-profile trips with his musician girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins.
Former FBI executive Christopher O’Leary told MSNBC that Patel exploited his title for self-promotion, earning the nickname ‘Make-a-Wish director’.
MSNOW reported that Patel ordered four luxury armored BMWs to replace the Chevrolet Suburbans traditionally used by the bureau.
A person close to Patel, who spoke anonymously to MSNOW to share details, said the government would have paid about $480,000 for a new armored suburban, which was more than twice the cost of the BMW.
He also faced backlash for using FBI aircraft for personal travel. When pressed about the used he replied, ‘I’m entitled to a personal life.’
Patel drew further criticism after he featured on a podcast with his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins released as the manhunt for the Brown University shooter was ongoing.
The FBI director came under fire after he announced prematurely that his agents had helped apprehend a suspect in the shooting that left two dead and nine injured at the Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island.
At the same time, a teaser clip from conservative podcaster Katie Miller, wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, asking Patel and his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, about their romance went viral.
A representative for Miller’s podcast told the Daily Mail that the interview was filmed before the mass shooting.
Patel’s girlfriend Wilkins has also been the subject of speculation, with many believing Patel has used FBI funds to provide the country singer special treatment, claims he has denied.
