(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Bloomberg journalist Jason Leopold announced Friday that he’s obtained nearly 900 pages of emails written by Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel. The emails come from Patel’s time serving in the first Trump administration’s Office of Director of National Intelligence.
Leopold said he filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Patel’s emails in 2021 because he wanted to find out what Patel did at the ODNI. The reporter filed a lawsuit for the emails when the agency didn’t produce them. Leopold said he finally received nearly 900 pages of Patel’s emails some two years later, and that there are thousands of more pages he’s yet to receive.
According to Leopold, the emails show that Patel worked to debunk the Russiagate hoax by working to declassify documents.
NEW FOIA Files EXCLUSIVE: I obtained more than 800 pages of Kash Patel's emails (and thousands more coming) during his stint at ODNI, which offer some insight into how he might lead FBI & raise questions as to whether he’ll use his position to settle political scores…
— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) January 10, 2025
“He coordinated efforts with high-ranking officials at the White House, Department of Justice and Republican lawmakers to declassify documents he believed were favorable to Trump,” Leopold said. “His motive appeared to be convincing the public that Trump’s narrative on Russia—that it was a ‘hoax’ motivated by hatred of the president—was correct.”
Patel also worked behind the scenes to exonerate the Trump’s former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.
“One of Patel’s targets was Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s former national security adviser. She, along with 38 other former Obama officials, was accused by the Trump administration of illegally “unmasking” the identity of Flynn from intelligence reports and leaking it to the media,” Leopold wrote.
Patel reportedly didn’t respond to the reporter’s request for comment on his emails.
Patel’s nomination as FBI director will need confirmation by the Republican-led Senate, which recently thwarted Trump’s wish to appoint then-Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
If confirmed, Patel will lead the FBI as it faces widespread criticism for weaponization against Republicans.
For instance, the FBI carried out a head-scratching search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, claiming to look for so-called classified documents.
FBI agents, acting under orders from the Biden-Harris administration, searched through former First Lady Melania Trump’s drawers and personal belongings.
The search warrant resulted in Special Counsel Jack Smith indicting Trump. However, the lawfare case was dismissed after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
