FBI Director Kash Patel says he has discovered new information related to the agency’s “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation regarding allegations of ties between President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
While appearing alongside FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, Patel cautioned that it is key to showcase the new information to the public in a manner that provides “accountability.”
Patel stated that he and Bongino unearthed new “Russiagate” information last week. He accused the FBI’s previous leadership of withholding and hiding important documentation, saying they went so far as to hide it in rooms “where people weren’t supposed to look.”
As such, Patel and Bongino are working to “clean it up” and provide “a wave of transparency” to the public, hinting that this would be revealed in “a week or two.”
“I was the lead ‘Russiagate’ investigator for the House Intelligence Committee, and I’ve been on both your shows in a prior life talking about it, and I’m telling you and the American public that we have now found material and information and people who wanted to hide it from the world since we got in these seats” Patel stated. “We are trying to do it in a fashion where not only are we informing the American public about what happened, but we can have accountability for it, and that takes a little bit more time.”
Patel was pressed on why there has yet been any accountability on “Crossfire Hurricane,” to which the director stated he and Bongino were not present in the agency half a decade ago. He acknowledged that “people before us” could have done more to exercise this accountability, but he is focusing on releasing documents to the public that were previously withheld.
Bongino noted how he and Patel have been at the agency for only a few months, and are working to unravel a “multi-year politicized investigation.” He suggested that people must ask whether they “want this done right or you want it done quickly.” The deputy director added that the agency is working on protecting the nation from cyber attacks and other threats as it works to provide accountability to the investigation against Trump.
“It’s not an excuse, it’s just reality,” Bongino stated.
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During the interview, Patel also slammed the previous leadership of the FBI for making it an agency that “permitted a man or a woman to be killed twice an hour” in the United States. This is why 1,500 FBI agents are moving out of Washington, D.C., to be sent out into the field.
The decision to deploy FBI agents away from the nation’s capital stems from how roughly “a third” of the agency’s workforce was in Washington D.C. As such, the agency’s deployment will provide all 50 states with “a plus-up.”