Topline
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee told FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday they’ve received reports of political allies at the FBI receiving extra taxpayer-funded payments on top of their usual salaries, describing it as a “slush fund,” the latest in a string of controversies Patel has faced at the FBI.
FBI Director Kash Patel conducts a news conference at the Department of Justice on April 27.
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Key Facts
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the House Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, sent a letter to Patel on Tuesday stating the committee has received “troubling reports” of FBI employees closest to Patel receiving bonuses.
Accusing Patel of operating a “personal slush fund” for “loyalist MAGA henchmen,” Raskin said Patel has used the FBI’s fund for bonuses to make approximately $1 million in payments to members of the FBI chief’s “Director’s Advisory Team,” as well as agents on Patel’s security detail.
FBI agents have received as much as $8,000 per pay period on top of their normal salaries, Raskin alleges, which have been paid out for five pay periods so far, amounting up to some $40,000 per person in extra payments.
Raskin accused Patel of using the payments to circumvent salary caps for federal employees and pay people more than is allowed under federal law, alleging that so much money has been taken out of the FBI’s bonuses fund that some checks have bounced as a result.
The Democrat asked Patel to provide documentation of any payments and communications regarding the payments—though since Democrats are in the minority on the House Judiciary Committee, he can’t subpoena Patel for those documents without Republicans’ approval.
The FBI has not yet responded to a request for comment.
What to Watch for
It’s unclear whether Patel will provide any documentation as requested. If he doesn’t, Democrats would likely have to wait to potentially subpoena Patel for documents next year, should they regain control of the House in the November midterms.
Crucial Quote
“It is not clear whether these bonus payments have simply been a corrupt attempt to slide cash to friends or whether they are also meant to ensure the silence of the agents who witness your inebriation and accompanying professional negligence and misconduct,” Raskin wrote in his letter to Patel, referencing reporting in The Atlantic suggesting Patel has a drinking problem, which the FBI director has decried as false.
Key Background
Patel previously worked in the first Trump administration and went on to become a major pro-Trump media personality before being hired as the president’s FBI chief. His tenure at the FBI has been marred by a number of controversies, including over his use of an FBI private jet to visit his girlfriend, his visit to the Olympics in Milan, his purchase of new luxury BMWs for his FBI travel and his gifting of personalized bottles of bourbon to staff and civilians. Patel has denied all accusations of wrongdoing, and sued The Atlantic for $250 million in response to the publication’s allegations about his drinking. The lawsuit decries allegations in the article about Patel’s “erratic behavior and excessive drinking” and frequent absences from the FBI, claiming the allegations were made by “partisans with axes to grind and are not in a position to know the facts.”
Further Reading
Kash Patel Sues The Atlantic For $250M Over Drinking, Absentee Allegations (Forbes)
How Kash Patel Turned Trump’s 2020 Election Loss Into A MAGA Money Machine (Forbes)