Kash Patel, Director General of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), noted that "the FBI concealed investigations for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton," shedding light on past events.
In an effort to secure transparency in law enforcement agencies, there seems to be a push for "historical rectification," targeting former FBI Director James Comey and Clinton.
Director General Patel appeared alongside FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" program on the 18th (local time) and criticized, "(The previous) FBI usurped the constitutional responsibilities held by the Department of Justice and the Attorney General," stating, "Comey decided for himself what cases to prosecute and what not to."
He especially mentioned the Hillary Clinton email scandal that occurred ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, claiming, "If you don’t believe me, look at the video record."
Patel, a second-generation Indian immigrant, served in key positions during the Trump administration, including Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council (NSC), Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and Chief of Staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense.
He demonstrated unwavering loyalty to President Trump, much like other cabinet-level nominees during the second term of the Trump administration, according to foreign media. In the process, he left behind numerous controversial statements.
Comey, who served as the FBI Director before Patel, is the polar opposite of him. Comey has a long-standing feud with Trump. He was appointed as FBI Director in 2013 during the Obama administration but was dismissed in 2017 when Trump took office.
He later took a stand against Trump, stating that there was external pressure on the investigation regarding the allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia (Crossfire Hurricane) by appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Recently, a new controversy arose between Comey and Trump. On the 15th, Comey hastily deleted a photo of a seashell with the number '8647' on his Instagram.
"86" is an American slang term meaning "to remove." "47" sparked a controversy of "Trump assassination threat" as it refers to Trump, the 47th U.S. President. As this issue escalated to a significant case warranting investigation by the Secret Service, Comey was summoned by authorities for questioning.
As Comey began to resurface in discussions among Americans, Patel pointed out that "he intentionally omitted investigation information or distorted prosecution decisions during his tenure as FBI Director."
Comey wanted the FBI to strengthen its political independence as a federal investigative agency. There were no sanctuaries in investigations concerning political events.
Just ten days before the 2016 election, he initiated a renewed investigation into the "email scandal," claiming that then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had negatively impacted national security by using a personal email system while serving as Secretary of State. Clinton cited this renewed investigation just before the election as a reason for her electoral defeat.
In 2017, he was ultimately dismissed while investigating links between Trump and Russia.
Patel stated regarding the 2017 investigation, "New details have been uncovered," adding that "Patel maliciously and brutally distorted the procedures of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and lied to the American people," and that "he concealed relevant documents and hid them in places that cannot be found."
According to Fox News, Patel added that he would completely transparently disclose information related to the Crossfire Hurricane investigation within one to two weeks. On March 25, Trump signed an executive order directing the declassification of information related to the investigation into Crossfire Hurricane in which he was involved.
In U.S. political circles, attention is being focused on how the "8647" controversy will unfold as the past involving Comey and Clinton is revisited.
Some expressed concerns that "the uncovering of past history could deteriorate into political revenge." Patel criticized the FBI's surveillance practices, stating that "Comey and others weaponized the FBI for political purposes."