FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday night that a “wave of transparency” is on the horizon for the agency, accusing the FBI of shielding Hillary Clinton for nearly a decade—a pattern he claimed is finally coming to an end.
Appearing on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures alongside FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Patel said the Bureau is beginning the long process of restoring public trust after years of scrutiny over its handling of high-profile Democratic figures, allegations surrounding January 6, and its controversial investigations into President Donald Trump.
Patel emphasized that it was his discovery of the FBI’s role in initiating the Crossfire Hurricane investigation—centered on alleged Trump-Russia collusion—that solidified his belief the government had been “weaponized” against Clinton’s political opponents.
“You asked in the beginning how the FBI was weaponized,” he said to host Maria Bartiromo. “Well, the FBI hijacked the constitutional responsibility of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, and James Comey and others specifically decided what cases to prosecute and not prosecute. Don’t believe me? Go to the videotape in the Hillary Clinton investigation.”
“We don’t decide prosecutions, nor does any agent or intel analyst. We have great partners under Attorney General [Pam] Bondi. We work with them and discuss the matter with them, but the prosecutorial decision is with them,” he said.
Patel added that in the near future, the FBI will publicly disclose the extent to which former agents went to sustain the unfounded allegation that President Trump colluded with Russian operatives to influence the 2016 election.
“That’s how vindictive and vicious the former leadership structure here was. Not only did they bastardize the FISA process and lie to the American public, they withheld and hid documentation and put it in rooms where people weren’t supposed to look,” Patel said. “It’s a good thing we’re here now to clean it up, and you’re about to see a wave of transparency… Just give us about a week or two.”
Patel directed some of his sharpest criticism at his own agency, accusing the FBI of “intentionally failing the American public” by orchestrating what he called the “biggest D.C. deception game” in history. He argued that under the leadership of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, and Peter Strzok, public trust in the FBI plummeted to historic lows—trust that, he said, will take years to rebuild.
“They said the FBI was the most storied institution for law enforcement, and it was, and it will be again very soon,” Patel declared while also suggesting that former leaders abused taxpayer dollars by hiding evidence from the courts.
“That’s what broke the FBI. And then, when they were caught, they lied about it… and [few media personalities] were brave enough to cover it six, seven, eight years ago. We’re still talking about it today because Congress is working rigorously with us [and] the Crossfire Hurricane documents are coming fast and hard. They’re being sent there un-redacted so we can have full accountability.”
“That’s how you restore the trust that was lost to the American public when it comes to the FBI,” Patel said.