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

[chowder66]

11. The Democrats plan to highlight another instance....

where Patel has been criticized for his handling of a sensitive operation aimed at freeing American captives. Two weeks after the Yemen hostage deal, Patel found himself in the middle of another high-risk operation. Philip Walton was a 27-year-old American who had been seized by armed men at his farm in Niger, near the Nigerian border.

The kidnappers transported Walton to Nigeria and demanded a million dollars in ransom. There were also indications that the kidnappers were contemplating turning him over to a terrorist group operating in the region. Patel was accompanying President Trump on a visit to Fort Bragg, the military installation in North Carolina that is home to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. While they were there, Patel received intelligence that Walton would be held at an encampment for several hours, enough time to stage a daring Seal Team 6 raid to rescue the hostage. Mr. Trump signed off on the operation, which involved parachuting into Northern Nigeria and trekking for miles to the compound where Walton was being held.

Then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper had greenlit the plan, but there were still some final questions that needed to be answered before he could give the go order – primarily whether the Nigerian government had given the U.S. permission to use its air space. According to Esper's memoir, Patel, who was the senior director for counterterrorism at the time, assured Defense Department officials that the State Department had received the necessary permission from the Nigerians. But Patel's information was incorrect: the Nigerians had not given their approval.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-insider-kash-patel-hostage-rescue/