Testimonials before the Congress | Kash Patel on the hot seat

(New York) If he only wanted Donald Trump – and he often only wants him – another former FBI director deserves to be charged following James Comey. It is Christopher Wray, a republican whom the president himself appointed the head of this agency during his first mandate before forcing him to resign the threshold of his second and replace him by Kash Patel.

In a message published on Sunday on Truth Social, Donald Trump accused Christopher Wray of having lied under oath about the presence of 247 FBI agents during the January 6, 2021 assault against the Capitol of the United States. He based this accusation on conservative media articles relating an old conspiracy theory.

“This differs from what director Christopher Wray has said many times! », Donald Trump indignant, referring to the hearings of the former director of the FBI before the Congress. “Indeed, it now turns out that FBI agents were present during the January 6 demonstration, probably acting as an agitators and insurgents. »»

All this is false, to the point that the current director of the FBI had to restore facts on social networks. Kash Patel said that FBI agents had been deployed “for the crowd control” after the start of the riot.

Critics of his own camp

But Christopher Wray’s successor is not always as respectful of the truth. In fact, his criticism accused him of having lied in a blatant manner during his appearances before the Congress.

This is one of the files that darken the days of the FBI director these days. In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel suffered criticism from all sides, including his own camp, due to decisions attributed to his lack of experience and maturity.

Steve Bannon, former strategist and advisor to Donald Trump, notably criticized his eagerness to go to Utah and congratulate himself on the arrest of the alleged killer of influencer Maga at a press conference.

“I do not know why Kash took the plane to go there, thousands of kilometers, to tell us:” Hey, we work in partnership and our partnership with UTAH is great, “he said during his program Balado.

The day before this press conference, Kash Patel exposed himself to ridicule by announcing on social networks the arrest of a suspect-he had to retract less than two hours later. Made that did not help his cause: he was at Rao’s, one of the most exclusive restaurants in New York, when sending at least one of his messages.

But there is worse: the day of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel was targeted, with the general prosecutor of the United States, Pam Bondi, by a prosecution brought by three former senior FBI officials fired last August for political reasons.

The prosecution went almost unnoticed in the national trauma caused by the murder of Kirk. But she has probably not finished haunting Kash Patel, because she calls into question the credibility of her testimonies before the Congress. So that he could one day be charged for false statements.

The legal action was filed by heavy goods vehicles: Brian Driscoll, former director of the FBI for acting, Steven Jensen, head of the FBI office in Washington, and Spencer Evans, head of the FBI office in Las Vegas.

Alleged contradictions

During a hearing of the Senate Judicial Commission held on September 16, the Republican senator from Louisiana John Kennedy asked Kash Patel: “Have you dismissed employees because they voted for Vice-President Harris? »»

“I do not ask the people they vote for, and either the FBI,” replied Kash Patel.

This declaration is contradicted in the pursuit of the three former senior officials of the FBI.

According to Brian Driscoll, Kash Patel told him last January that he could assume the position of Director of the FBI as long as an verification would confirm that he “was not prolific on social networks, had not given donations to the Democratic Party and had not voted for Kamala Harris in 2024”.

During the hearing of September 16, Kash Patel also denied that the dismissal of dozens of FBI agents who investigated Donald Trump was motivated by the need to satisfy the thirst for revenge of the president.

The director of the FBI, however, said the opposite to Brian Driscoll, according to this passage from the prosecution brought by the former FBI responsible: “Patel explained that he had to dismiss the people whom his superiors had asked him to dismiss, because his own job depended on the dismissal of the agents who had worked on cases involving the president. Patel explained that neither he nor Driscoll could do nothing to prevent these layoffs or others, because “the FBI had tried to put the president in prison and the latter had not forgotten him”.

Other decisions under the magnifying glass

The prosecution contains several other examples of declarations attributed to Kash Patel contradicting his testimonies before the Congress. It also details decisions that do not honor it human. Among these is the dismissal of Walter Giardina, ex-Marine fired after a career of 19 years at the FBI, just days after the death of his wife with an aggressive form of cancer of the adrenal gland.

Praised by her colleagues for her professionalism and her integrity, Giardina had notably proceeded with another agent at the arrest of Peter Navarro, one of the advisers of Donald Trump, who was going to be condemned for outrage.

On August 7, Kash Patel sent him a letter of dismissal containing this paragraph: “You showed a bad judgment and a lack of impartiality in the exercise of your functions, which led to the government’s instrumentalization for political purposes. »»

Pretexting the current procedure, the FBI chief did not comment on the pursuit that aims.