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Dennis Donovan

(29,343 posts)
Mon Jan 27, 2025, 03:03 PM Jan 27

Raw Story: FBI officials 'livid' after Kash Patel risked 'tragic results' by leaking hostage rescue [View all]

Raw Story - FBI officials 'livid' after Kash Patel risked 'tragic results' by leaking hostage rescue

David Edwards
January 27, 2025 2:49PM ET

Senate Democrats demanded answers after a whistleblower came forward with allegations that Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, leaked details about a hostage rescue mission.

In a letter obtained by CBS News, Senate Democrats asked Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Acting Treasury Secretary David Lebryk, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to turn over records of communications between Patel and the FBI's Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, the government's hostage rescue team.

According to the letter, Patel "broke protocol regarding hostage rescues by publicly commenting without authorization on the then-in-progress retrieval of two Americans held captive by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen in October 2020."

Patel confirmed details of the rescue to The Wall Street Journal in a report published "several hours before the hostages were in the confirmed custody of the United States," the letter said.

"In the end the Americans returned home safely, but FBI officials involved in the mission were livid over Patel's leak, which they regarded as reckless and potentially risking tragic results," the CBS report explained.

/snip


CBS News - FBI insider raises concerns about Kash Patel's role in hostage rescue

By Daniel Klaidman
Updated on: January 27, 2025 / 2:44 PM EST / CBS News

Days before this week's high-stakes confirmation hearing of Kash Patel to be FBI director, a bureau insider has come forward with new information questioning Patel's judgment during sensitive hostage rescue missions, CBS News has learned.

The whistleblower, whose identity is being withheld by Senate Democrats for fear of retaliation, worked with the FBI's Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, which leads the government's missions to rescue hostages overseas. The whistleblower alleges that Patel violated firmly entrenched protocols to keep such operations under wraps until the captives are safely in U.S. hands and their families have been notified.

In a letter obtained by CBS News, Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote that Patel, while serving on the National Security Council during the first Trump term, "broke protocol regarding hostage rescues by publicly commenting without authorization on the then-in-progress retrieval of two Americans held captive by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen in October 2020."

According to the letter, on Oct. 14 at 10:55 a.m., the Wall Street Journal published a story in which Patel confirmed that the two American captives and the remains of a third were exchanged for two hundred Houthi fighters who were being held in Saudi Arabia. According to the letter, the news report was published "several hours before the hostages were in the confirmed custody of the United States." In the end the Americans returned home safely, but FBI officials involved in the mission were livid over Patel's leak, which they regarded as reckless and potentially risking tragic results.

/snip
36 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Amateur hour Iris Jan 27 #1
no, these are professional traitors rampartd Jan 27 #2
Good point. Iris Jan 27 #6
Exactly! And Patel at head of FBI will assure top tier bad guys will know about any/all investigations Attilatheblond Jan 27 #7
FBI will target Trump's enemies only, white collar criminals will skate if they contribute to Trump. sop Jan 27 #29
Well, he is a wizard. Maybe he used a spell to save the hostages instead? Oneironaut Jan 27 #3
Larry, Curly and Tulsi Mike 03 Jan 27 #4
4 Years of this Road Show is coming to America Oneear Jan 27 #5
At least -- and only if we're lucky -- it will be only 4 years RVN VET71 Jan 28 #33
Hmmm, maybe not also searching trump's other properties.... Think. Again. Jan 27 #8
Right. I have been jumping up and down about that exact thing. yellow dahlia Jan 27 #24
Bedminster, or ANY of his other known personal spaces. Think. Again. Jan 27 #25
Right! yellow dahlia Jan 27 #26
Fucking asshole and fuck the Wall Street Journal for publishing it. chowder66 Jan 27 #9
Nice story timing TommyT139 Jan 27 #10
The Democrats plan to highlight another instance.... chowder66 Jan 27 #11
I laugh at the idea that this will impact Patel's confirmation. maxsolomon Jan 27 #12
Agreed. chowder66 Jan 27 #14
Also: maxsolomon Jan 27 #15
No, it's not just a "rookie mistake", there are real consequences for voting these incompetents into positions of power. Exp Jan 27 #13
I agree, it is incompetence not inexperience. Irish_Dem Jan 27 #18
Just like Scump. Running his mouth to make Hassler Jan 27 #16
He also endangered a similar operation in Nigeria: Gaugamela Jan 27 #17
I can see Five Eyes shortly becoming Four Eyes... HipChick Jan 27 #19
I think that happened November 5th William Seger Jan 27 #22
Like this crew is going to turn over records... IcyPeas Jan 27 #20
Someone who is so totally unprepared and unqualified/disqualified is going to fuck up William Seger Jan 27 #21
Incompetence on the hoof. Sneederbunk Jan 27 #23
TY Kick for reading later. Cha Jan 27 #27
Kash Patel is a total fucking psychopath. Initech Jan 27 #28
Headline coming soon: "Confirmed" UTUSN Jan 27 #30
No matter what crimes Trump's henchmen commit, no one will enforce the law and hold them accountable. sop Jan 27 #31
Now they get "livid". We could have used some "livid" four years ago. Hotler Jan 27 #32
They don't know what the fuck they are doing. louis-t Jan 28 #34
It is so reassuring that our security now depends on the whims of show-boating, attention-seeking, spoils system Martin68 Jan 28 #35
He did have a "need to know" so who told him? Grins Jan 28 #36
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