By Mariane Angela, Daily Caller News Foundation | May 28, 2025
FBI Director Kash Patel slammed former FBI Director James Comey on Fox News Wednesday and accused him of sparking a culture of political grandstanding that has made the agency’s job harder.
Comey deleted an Instagram post showing the number “8647” after Republicans and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said he implied a threat against President Donald Trump. They opened an investigation. During an interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Patel said Comey’s action has sparked a wave of copycat threats and distracted agents from real threats to national security.
“If he wants to come after me, no problem. I’ve been living rent-free in that guy’s head for years, and that’s just a bonus. Do you know how many copycats we’ve had to investigate as a result of that beachside venture from the former director?” Patel asked.
Patel accused Comey of doing more than just offering political commentary.
“Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists? Everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the president of the United States is a joke, and they can do it because he did it,” Patel told host Bret Baier. “That’s what I’m having to deal with every single day, and that’s what I’m having to pull my agents and analysts off [of], because he thought it was funny to go out there and make a political stand.”
Comey’s leadership, Patel said, not only demoralized rank-and-file FBI agents but also undermined the bureau’s credibility.
“The FBI is bigger than any leader it’s ever had or ever will have. And James Comey is a private citizen, and he can walk around the beach and talk about seashells and crayons for all I care about and talk about how we’re the conspiracy theorists,” Patel said.
Patel pointed to what he called Comey’s most dangerous legacy, the abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court process during the 2016 election.
“I just remind the American people of one thing. When that man was a leader of the FBI, he perpetrated the largest criminal conspiracy, packaged political information from overseas, took it to a federal FISA court and illegally surveilled a political opponent,” Patel added. “So, I won’t be lectured on how to run this FBI from that man.”
Comey approved FISA warrant applications against Carter Page three times between 2016 and 2017, relying heavily on the discredited Steele dossier to claim Page was a Russian agent. A Department of Justice (DOJ) inspector general later said the FBI withheld key evidence. The DOJ ruled the final two warrants, including one signed by Comey, were invalid.
Following Comey’s Instagram post, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Comey should be arrested for allegedly threatening the president’s life. Comey dismissed her remarks as “ridiculous” and said they reflect poorly on the current administration’s leadership.
Trump has already survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 campaign. In July, a gunman wounded him at a Pennsylvania rally, and, in September, another suspect tried to carry out an attack at his Florida golf club.
Mariane Angela is a news reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation
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