The first phase of released files largely comprise documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US government
This announcement came after Trump recently named Indian origin Kash Patel as the director of the FBI
Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration, asked all federal employees to justify their work or lose their jobs
New FBI Director Kash Patel has told senior officials that he plans to relocate 1,000 employees at FBI headquarters to field offices around the country and move an additional 500 to a bureau facility in Huntsville, Alabama, according to a person with knowledge of the discussions. The plans were communicated Friday, the same day Patel was sworn in at the White House. They reflect his long-stated determination to reduce the FBI's footprint in Washington and have more of a presence in offices in other cities. The person who discussed Patel's vision did so on condition of anonymity to describe plans that have not been made public. At his swearing-in ceremony, Patel called the opportunity to lead the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency the "greatest honour" of his life. Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking party ranks and voting against him. "I think he'l
Kash Patel was sworn in as the FBI director and he called the opportunity to lead the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency the "greatest honour" of his life. Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, breaking party ranks and voting against him. "I think he'll go down as the best ever at that position," President Donald Trump told reporters Friday ahead of the White House swearing-in on Friday, which was conducted by Attorney General Pam Bondi and attended by Republican supporters in Congress, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Trump added that the "agents love this guy". Patel will inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil as the Justice Department over the past month has forced out a group of senior bureau officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the January 6, .
Kash Patel, who has celebrated rank-and-file FBI agents for being "courageous, apolitical warriors of justice," will serve a 10-year term if confirmed
FBI agents who participated in investigations related to President Donald Trump have sued over Justice Department efforts to develop a list of employees involved in those inquiries that they fear could be a precursor to mass firings. The class-action complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, seeks an immediate halt to the Justice Development's plans to compile a list of investigators who participated in probes of the Jan 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol as well as Trump's hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The lawsuit notes that Trump on the campaign trail "repeatedly stated that he would personify the vengeance' or the retribution, for those whom he called "political hostages, for their actions during the Jan 6 attack. The agents contend the very act of compiling lists of persons who worked on matters that upset Donald Trump is retaliatory in nature, intended to intimidate FBI agents and other personnel and to discourage them from reporting any
Trump administration officials are moving to fire FBI agents engaged in investigations involving President Donald Trump in the coming days, two people familiar with the plans said Friday. It was not clear how many agents might be affected, but officials acting at the direction of the administration were working to identify individual agents who could be terminated, said the people who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Among the politically explosive investigations involving Trump over the last four years are inquiries into his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his hoarding of classified documents, as well as hundreds of criminal cases against rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment, and an FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. The terminations would be a major blow to the historic independence of the nation's premier federal law ...
Indian American Kash Patel on Thursday told lawmakers that he has been subjected to racism while growing up as an individual. Unfortunately, Senator, yes. I don't want to get into those details with my family here, Patel, 44, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the FBI Director. If confirmed, he would be the first Hindu and Indian American to be FBI Director. Patel was responding to a question from Senator Lindsey Graham if he has ever been subject to racism as an individual. If you look at the record from January 6th, where I testified before that committee, because of my personal information being released by the Congress, I was subjected to a direct and significant threat on my life. And I put that information in the record. I had to move, he said. I was called a detestable -- and I'll apologise if I don't get it all right, but it's in the record -- a detestable sand nigger who had no right being in this country. You should go bac
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI, will encounter deeply skeptical questioning from Democratic senators Thursday about his loyalty to the president and stated desire to overhaul the bureau as he faces a high-stakes hearing that will help determine his path toward confirmation. Patel, a Trump loyalist who has railed against the FBI over its investigations into the president and claimed that Jan 6 rioters were mistreated by the Justice Department, was picked in November to replace Christopher Wray, who led the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency for more than seven years. A former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and an ex-federal prosecutor who served in Trump's first administration, Patel has alarmed critics with rhetoric in dozens of podcasts and books he has authored in which he has demonstrated fealty to Trump, lambasted the decision-making of the agency he's now been asked to lead and identified by name officials he believes should be
Kash Patel will appear before a US Senate committee on January 30 for a confirmation hearing to be the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Patel, 44, is the highest-ranking Indian-American nominated by President Donald Trump in his administration. If confirmed, he would be the first-ever Indian American to lead the most powerful American investigation agency. "The Nomination of Kashyap Pramod Patel to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation" has been scheduled for January 30, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Thursday. Patel would replace Christopher Wray. He is considered to be a loyal supporter of Trump. I love the American dream. My story's pretty simple, it's unique, and some of you share in it, Patel, the former federal prosecutor, said during an inauguration event for Trump early this week. My parents were born and raised in East Africa. My father in the 1970s fled a genocidal dictatorship in Uganda, where he saw 300,000 of his ..
The FBI must remain independent, above the partisan fray and committed to upholding the rule of law, outgoing Director Christopher Wray said in a farewell address just days before his expected retirement at the conclusion of the Biden administration following more than seven years on the job. No matter what's happening out there, Wray said, in here, we've got to stay committed to doing our work the right way every time, with professionalism, with rigor, with integrity. That means following the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it or doesn't because trust me, if there's anything I've learned in this job, there's always someone who doesn't like you. The remarks at the packed farewell ceremony at FBI headquarters steered clear of any direct political reference, with no overt mention of President-elect Donald Trump's scathing criticism of him or the turmoil the bureau has encountered amid a spate of highly charged investigations into both Trump and President Joe Biden. But
The FBI now says that the pickup truck driver responsible for a deadly rampage in New Orleans acted alone. Officials said on Wednesday that they were seeking additional potential suspects in an attack being investigated as an act of terrorism. But Christopher Raia, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counterterrorism division, said on Thursday that the evidence now shows that Shamsud-Din Jabbar was solely responsible for the attack and professed allegiance to the Islamic State. New Orleans pressed ahead with plans to reopen the city's famed Bourbon Street on Thursday as investigators kept digging into the background of the US Army veteran who drove a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year's revellers, killing 15 people. The FBI said it was investigating the attack, which occurred when 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar steered around a police blockade, as a terrorist act. Investigators believe the driver was inspired by the Islamic State group. Authorities recovered a black flag of
The Nomination of Indian-American Kash Patel as FBI Director gains momentum as he meets several influential Senators at Capitol Hill, many of whom openly came out in his support. If confirmed by the US Senate, Patel would be the first-ever Indian-American to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the powerful investigating agency of the United States. Today I reminded Kash that transparency brings accountability, and it's badly needed at the FBI. As a former congressional investigator, Kash understands that cooperation with Congress is not optional and whistle-blower protection is essential, a statement from Senator Chuck Grassley, the incoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said after meeting Patel. Once formally nominated, I'd look forward to holding a hearing on Kash's nomination in the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said following the meeting. I just wrapped a wonderful meeting with Chairman Chuck Grassley. I share his love for government transparency and
Federal authorities on Tuesday urged telecommunication companies to boost network security following a sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. The guidance issued by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. Officials who briefed reporters on the recommendations said the US still doesn't know the true scope of China's attack or the extent to which Chinese hackers still have access to US networks. In one sign of the global reach of China's hacking efforts, the government's warning was issued jointly with security agencies in New Zealand, Australia and Canada, members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which also includes the US and Britain. Dubbed Salt Typhoon by analysts, the wide-ranging cyberespionage campaign emerged earlier this year after hackers sought
Indian American Kash Patel has been well-known for years within Donald Trump's orbit as a loyal supporter who shares the president-elect's scepticism of the FBI and intelligence community. But he's receiving fresh attention, from the public and from Congress, now that Trump has picked him to lead the FBI. As he braces for a bruising and likely protracted Senate confirmation fight, Patel can expect scrutiny not only over his professed fealty to Trump but also for his belief revealed over the last year in interviews and his own book that the century-old FBI should be radically overhauled. Here's a look at some of what he's proposed for the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency. How much of it he'd actually follow through on is a separate question. He's mused about shutting down the FBI's Washington headquarters The first FBI employees moved into the current Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters 50 years ago. The building since then has housed the supervisors and leaders who m
Polymarket said in a statement that the company would 'stand up for ourselves and our community', and alleged that the FBI search was politically motivated
The Justice Department unsealed criminal charges Friday in a thwarted Iranian plot to kill President-elect Donald Trump before this week's presidential election. A criminal complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges that an unnamed official in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instructed a contact this past September to put together a plan to surveil and ultimately kill Trump.
The FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service on Tuesday were investigating the origin of suspicious packages that have been sent to or received by elections officials in more than a dozen states, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or that any of the packages contained hazardous material. The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there on Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of State's office on Tuesday also said the FBI alerted them of a suspicious package that was intercepted. The FBI is collecting the letters, some of which contained "an unknown substance," spokesperson Kristen Setera of the agency's Boston office said in a statement. "We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters," she said. "As this i