(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee say that FBI Director Kashyap Patel has been using part of the bureau’s budget as a “slush fund” to pay bonuses to agents loyal to him.
House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wrote a letter to Patel on Monday, announcing that his committee is investigating the allegations.
“Your office has issued more than $1 million in awards to special agents serving on your ‘Director’s Advisory Team’—a curated group of agents who are willing to carry out your unlawful partisan and personal orders—and special agents on your security detail, circumventing the mandatory maximum pay caps established by statute,” Raskin said.
“In some cases, nearly $8,000 payments have been made to multiple individuals every two-week pay period despite many of the beneficiaries of your selective generosity already maxing out on a federal employee’s salary.”
Wow! Raskin just sent Kash Patel this letter. It’s umm… interesting. Read it twice. 👀
The House Judiciary minority says Patel has handed out more than $1 million in “bonus” payments to agents on his Director’s Advisory Team and his security detail. The letter calls it a… pic.twitter.com/LptgPtG2PL
— Katie (@KazooKatherine) June 16, 2026
Raskin said he doesn’t know how much money each agent has received. But he said that “numerous” loyalists to Patel have gotten bonuses amounting to $40,000 apiece in total.
“We can also confirm you have depleted the FBI reserve accounts for bonus payments at such a frenzied rate that some of the payments have bounced back from exhausted accounts,” Raskin added.
Raskin further suggested that some of the agents receiving bonuses are aware of Patel’s “inebriation and accompanying professional negligence and misconduct.” The congressman was referring to reports that Patel’s drinking habits are negatively affecting his performance.
Raskin demanded internal records about the bonus payments, including communications, payments, a list of agents on his advisory team, and other documents. He demanded those records by June 29.
In response to Raskin’s letter, the FBI said on Twitter/X that the allegations are “fake news!”
Fake News! @MSNOWNews (after their FAILED rebrand due to terrible ratings) is at it again with clickbait headlines.
The Fake Media is just that….FAKE!
Now, if you don’t mind. We are gonna get back to letting our cops be cops for the American people! pic.twitter.com/Diz03WJURd
— FBI Rapid Response (@FBI_Response) June 16, 2026
Patel is also suing The Atlantic over its reporting on his purported drinking habits, while his girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, has an open lawsuit against MS Now and two of its reporters for a story claiming that the bureau had agents escort one of her inebriated friends home after a night of partying in Nashville.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
