CHR - Why Big Media Loathes Kash Patel

TOP LINE

The animus is personal.  

Covering this week’s confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, nominated by President Trump to lead the FBI, was a significant test for many reporters who loathe the longtime Trump aide.  

Kash Patel’s investigative work undercut the mainstream media narrative about Russia Gate as well as the event timeline leading up to January 6. 

As a result, a fair, fact driven assessment of Patel’s performance at this week’s confirmation hearing may be hard to come by.

DEEP DIVE

I speak from experience. 

In 2018, I was among the first reporters to obtain the so-called Nunes memo which was spearheaded by then republican chairman of the House intelligence committee Devin Nunes.  The four page memo was drafted by Patel.

The declassified document laid bare significant defects in the FBI and Justice Department surveillance warrants for Carter Page, a Trump campaign aide during the 2016 election.  Those defects were later confirmed and amplified in the 2019 DOJ Inspector General Horowitz report. 

To simplify, the most senior FBI and Justice Department officials wrongly relied on the Steele Dossier, opposition research largely funded by the Clinton campaign, as well as flawed sub-sources to secure the Page surveillance warrants.  Surveilling Page was a window into the communications of the broader Trump campaign which was the ultimate target.

Applications to the highly secretive FISA court (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) also took the unusual step of citing news media reports to strengthen the case for surveillance.  A former FBI agent who has personally drafted surveillance warrants told me that in their decades long career, they had never seen a FISA application rely on media reporting.

That matters because Patel’s investigation revealed evidence of “circular reporting.”  Here’s how it works: an FBI or other government official leaks information to a reporter, who then publishes the information, and it then comes full circle when the FBI cites the same reporter’s work as evidence to back up the bureau or DOJ’s case.

Pulling back the curtain on circular reporting undercuts the credibility of some journalists who raised their profiles through Russia Gate “scoops” from anonymous ‘law enforcement officials’ or ‘sources familiar with the matter.’

(MY NOTE: While they might have shown more initiative and curiosity, I believe some reporters were badly let down and misled by their law enforcement contacts.)

For other journalists, Patel’s second strike was his eyewitness account of requests for DoD support prior to January 6, specifically National Guard troops. One of the big moments at this week’s confirmation hearing came when GOP Senator Ted Cruz pinned down Patel on the alleged actions of then-House Speaker Pelosi.

In 2021, I obtained the internal DoD timeline for security requests from Washington D.C.’s mayor, Capitol Hill police and others.    The timeline states that before January 6 “DoD confirmed with U.S Capitol Police (USCP) there is no request for DoD support" and the DC Mayor requested limited Guard forces for "Traffic Control Points" and "Metro Station support."

I also know from personal experience that to stray from the mainstream January 6 narrative was like touching a third rail.  Because I was asking legitimate, basic questions about the US Attorney's strategy and the January 6 timeline, I felt a target on my back.

A particular episode reinforced that my work at CBS was subject to additional scrutiny driven, not by sound journalistic principles, but by internal bias.  I was about fifteen months into my job as a senior investigative correspondent at CBS when January 6 unfolded.  I re-posted a tweet from the official CBS News account about Capitol Hill Police officer Brian Sicknick.  

Rather than approach me directly about the tweet, my colleagues went to executive Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews who had one of the shortest tenures as CBS News President for reasons that are widely reported.  Ciprian-Matthews chastised me for the tweet’s language because it apparently made some colleagues uncomfortable.

When I pointed out that I had copied the image, and the text nearly verbatim from the official CBS News twitter account, Ciprian-Matthews backed off.  

I also reported on internal law enforcement records about weapons brought to the Capitol on January 6 and the violent fallout. Those reports drew no scrutiny from my CBS News colleagues nor a phone call from Ciprian-Matthews.

On the Patel coverage, you may be hard pressed to find stories about his confirmation that don’t include “controversial choice” or “grilling.”  All roads lead back to Patel’s memos, and the DoD January 6 timeline.

To borrow a phrase, buckle up, because the new Trump-appointed CIA Director John Ratcliffe is positioned to declassify more Russia Gate records as well as CIA related correspondence about the Hunter Biden laptop. 

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Best, Catherine