CHR - Kash Patel Reporting Most Media Missed

TOPLINE:

With Kash Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI, an independent watchdog may soon bring needed transparency to allegations of government overreach targeting GOP congressional investigators, including Patel, probing the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe, “Crossfire Hurricane.”

The findings may tell us a lot about the power of Washington’s unelected bureaucracy.

DEEP DIVE: 

There are some stories you don’t forget because of the pressure that is brought to bear on you by the government bureaucracy to walk away from the reporting.

One of those stories came in 2018, when a review of congressional emails revealed a senior justice department official Rod Rosenstein had allegedly threatened staffers on the House intelligence committee, among them Kash Patel.   

Context matters: At the time, Patel and his team were systematically dismantling the premise for the FBI’s 2016 “Crossfire Hurricane” probe that investigated alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.  

Because Patel had deep experience at the Justice Department, he understood and could expose defects in the surveillance (FISA) warrants for Trump campaign aide Carter Page, among other irregularities in the FBI/DOJ case.

At the time, I was the chief intelligence correspondent for Fox News based in Washington D.C. The Fox story was headlined “(Rod) Rosenstein threatened to ‘subpoena’ GOP-led committee in ‘chilling’ clash over records, emails show”

It was straightforward, document driven reporting, but the response from the DOJ was severe and, in my experience, disproportionate.  We had reviewed emails that memorialized a January 2018 closed-door meeting between senior FBI and DOJ officials and members of the House Intelligence committee.

The 2018 report read, “The DAG [Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein] criticized the Committee for sending our requests in writing and was further critical of the Committee’s request to have DOJ/FBI do the same when responding,” the committee's then-senior counsel for counterterrorism Kash Patel wrote to the House Office of General Counsel.”

The report continued, “Going so far as to say that if the Committee likes being litigators, then ‘we [DOJ] too [are] litigators, and we will subpoena your records and your emails,’ referring to HPSCI [House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence] and Congress overall.”

The pushback to the story was swift and severe.   Reps for the FBI and DOJ disputed the email account.   “The FBI disagrees with a number of characterizations of the meeting as described in the excerpts of a staffer’s emails provided to us by Fox News.” 

“A DOJ official insisted Rosenstein ‘never threatened anyone in the room with a criminal investigation.’ The official added that department and bureau officials in the room ‘are all quite clear that the characterization of events laid out here is false,” adding that Rosenstein was responding to a threat of contempt.’’”

My understanding of the 2018 meeting would change when new claims were made public in a 2023 lawsuit brought by Patel against FBI Director Wray and former Justice Department officials.

At the time, I was working as a senior investigative correspondent for CBS News in Washington D.C. According to the 2023 lawsuit, a subpoena for Patel’s “personal information” had already been obtained before the confrontational 2018 meeting.   

According to court records, “On November 20, 2017, while Mr. Patel was still in his role as Senior Counsel and Chief Investigator for the HPSCI (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence), the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) secretly sought a grand jury subpoena to compel Google to turn over Mr. Patel’s private email account data. They did so in complete contravention of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees against unreasonable search and seizure.”

The lawsuit continued, “DOJ sought the subpoena for Mr. Patel’s private accounts without a legitimate basis in a chilling attempt to surveil the person leading the Legislative Branch’s investigation into the Department of Justice’s conduct during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. This was a blatant abuse and violation of the separation of powers by DOJ, a violation of Mr. Patel’s constitutional rights, and an attempt to find a way to silence an investigation into DOJ’s questionable conduct, as detailed below.  DOJ couldn’t subpoena Mr. Patel’s official accounts without sparking a public, political and legal battle; thus, they went for his personal accounts, in a non-public and unconstitutional manner, seeking dirt on Mr. Patel.”

Timing matters:  Based on the lawsuit, the DOJ sought Patel’s records BEFORE the 2018 meeting.  The lawsuit described it as a “politically motivated investigation.” 

According to the 2023 lawsuit, Patel learned about the subpoena several years later, in 2022, when Google notified him the DOJ had sought information related to his personal accounts.

The court records state, “Mr. Patel was wholly unaware of this subpoena until December 12, 2022, when, in line with its policy, Google notified Mr. Patel that DOJ issued it a subpoena for information related to his personal accounts.”

In September this year, a Memorandum Opinion from the court, said the defendants motion to dismiss the complaint was granted.  Among the arguments, that these officials are “entitled to qualified immunity…”

A separate watchdog report may soon bring needed transparency to these allegations of government overreach.  In this case, claims that some senior FBI and DOJ officials abused their authority to gather information on congressional investigators scrutinizing the origins of the FBI Russia collusion probe.

I will have more to say, in the future, about my experience reporting the story and the personal blowback from government officials.

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Best, Catherine

Inside the SCIF

This week, lots of email on the Hunter Biden pardon, and great ideas hit our inbox for future investigations. Keep the ideas and tips coming!

Richard T wrote: “We're sure you'll have your hands full with the new Trump administration, BUT we’d be especially interested in how the RNC and/or Trump will use its control of the House, Senate and Executive to push through”

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