Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel has been accused of creating a “slush fund” to give agents $1 million in taxpayer funded rewards to pursue political targets.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, announced the allegations this week. He also said that an investigation has been launched into Patel’s alleged scheme.
According to a press release from Raskin’s office, the alleged taxpayer-funded bonuses went to a “small group of agents willing to brazenly ignore the law in favor of pursuing political targets,” and “members of Patel’s personal security detail who are privy to his many abuses of FBI resources.”
Raskin said this group has been called “the Payback Squad” – a term used in reporting on these allegations from News of the United States (NOTUS), The Nation and Truthout last month. NOTUS’ sources said the name is “likely a reference to an effort associated with the Director’s Advisory Team that Patel set up last year,” and Raskin also points to agents on this team as being part of the alleged scheme.
“For their part, the agents on your security detail have also witnessed your indiscretions at the Poodle Room, Ned’s, Rao’s, Lower Broadway, the Strip, the Milano Cortina Olympics and beyond – when joining you on date nights and bro trips alike. […] These awards appear to constitute a gross mismanagement of funds and an abuse of authority by the Director's Office,” Raskin wrote.
Previously, Audacy has reported on Patel’s alleged drinking, including video from a locker room celebration during the Olympics and accounts from multiple media outlets. Patel snapped at a reporter in April during a press conference where he addressed reports about his alleged drinking.
“According to information received by the Committee, Director Patel’s office issued substantial and recurring bonus payments to agents on his ‘Director’s Advisory Team’ and members of his security detail, in some cases exceeding statutory pay limits,” said the press release from Raskin’s office. “Multiple individuals reportedly received recurring payments totaling tens of thousands of dollars within a short period. The Director’s office has disbursed these bonus funds at such an extreme rate that some payments could not be made from depleted accounts.”
It said that some individuals reportedly received five consecutive $8,000 payments totaling nearly $40,000 per person. Raskin’s office said those amounts might push compensation beyond federal salary caps and that the payments raise serious concerns about what FBI funds are being used for. Furthermore, it added that :experienced and decorated FBI officials” such as former Acting Director and Medal of Valor recipient Brian Driscoll and senior counterterrorism official Steven Jensen have been removed from their roles.
“The FBI’s budget is not as a slush fund to reward craven loyalty and ensure that your abuses of power and indiscretions remain hidden,” said Raskin. He’s seeking a full accounting of all bonus and award payments and has sent a letter to Patel in which he called the recipients of the alleged bonuses “loyalist MAGA henchmen,” referring to President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
MS NOW noted that the minority Democrats in the House don’t have authority to compel the FBI to produce documents related to the payments right now. However, if Democrats are able secure a majority position in the House during the midterm elections this November, that could change.
The FBI did not respond to a request for comment by MS NOW, according to the outlet. In a Tuesday report, The New Republic said that “the FBI has yet to respond to Raskin’s letter.”
