FBI Director Kash Patel commits to “rooting out” and “declassifying” everything involved in the “Russiagate” scandal and weaponization of federal law enforcement against President Trump. “I am committed to rooting it out. We are answering questions publicly so the public knows what we’re doing,” Patel told FBN’s Larry Kudlow. “Every single person that has been found to have weaponized or participated in that process has been removed from leadership positions. If and when we find others involved, we’re taking swift action.”

LARRY KUDLOW: In my judgment, the FBI is not here to invade the home of a former president and first lady. That is not what the FBI is supposed to do, that is not under your aegis, that came into the prior administration. But I have a lot of questions about that. How is that possible? How could the FBI just go and raid Mar-a-Lago, a president’s home? How could that have happened? And would it happen again? That’s another question I want to ask. KASH PATEL: The answer to both of those questions is the same. In terms of origination, it was a total weaponization and politicization by the FBI and DOJ under the Biden administration-dating back to the Obama administration-that led not only to Russiagate but the invasion of Donald Trump’s private home in Mar-a-Lago. As we know, thanks to federal courts, there was no constitutional basis to do so, no lawful predicate to open that. When you let politics run and weaponize it against political opponents-as they’ve done for years against Donald Trump, from Russiagate to his home-we’re now showing and exposing that weaponization. To your second point, once we rid the FBI of that former leadership structure that engaged in weaponization, we are giving accountability to the American people. Myself, Director Ratcliffe, and others are declassifying documents at a great rate to publicize what we have been finding. LARRY KUDLOW: Has there been a full investigation of the Mar-a-Lago invasion? Why? Where? When? Who did it? You talk about leaders, I guess leaders of the FBI, but also a lot of people on the ground. Has there been a major league investigation? I don’t think the public is aware of one. And if there is, what the conclusions were? KASH PATEL: On that one, I have to be careful in terms of what investigations we have open. You know me-I’ve been on the Russiagate beat for a decade, back to my time with Congressman and Chairman Devin Nunes, exposing corruption at the FISA court and the involvement of the Hillary Clinton campaign in funding and weaponizing the DOJ and FBI. I am committed to rooting it out. We are answering questions publicly so the public knows what we’re doing. These documents show that people in leadership positions may have lied-Brennan, Clapper, Comey. We’re not leaving one document unturned. They wrote things down, tried to put them in burn bags, tried to destroy them. In my opinion, through the declassification process, we’re going to show the public what they attempted to hide. Whether the investigation is going as far-reaching as it should, I can’t comment, but we’ve shown the American public time and again the weaponization. Now, as FBI Director-thanks to Donald Trump and a great Attorney General in Pam Bondi-we will find accountability. We’re joining forces to do so, especially on matters involving Russiagate. LARRY KUDLOW: But is there an investigation of the FBI’s role in that invasion? KASH PATEL: I am overseeing the current matters that the FBI involved itself with from Russiagate onward. Whether there’s an open investigation, I can’t say. Our partners across the IC wouldn’t divulge information unless it served a purpose. I won’t speak to charging decisions. LARRY KUDLOW: Have the leaders, in the different regime-you came in, you’re there now-but have the old leaders who assigned and directed that operation been dismissed from the FBI? KASH PATEL: Every single person that has been found to have weaponized or participated in that process has been removed from leadership positions. If and when we find others involved, we’re taking swift action. Look at the record of people who have been dismissed for their actions, and what they say when they get out about how they personally opined about weaponization-like Peter Strzok did last week. We’ll keep doing it. We’re not done yet. LARRY KUDLOW: Thank you for that. You’re going as far as you can go. Another question: why was Mar-a-Lago invaded? What were they looking for? This is speculation-no one knows. To this day, it happened several years ago. We’ll be talking about it for years. The subject of Russiagate even came up at the Alaska meeting of the two leaders, Russia and the United States. What were they doing there? Does anyone have any idea what the FBI was looking for? KASH PATEL: They were creating a crime where one did not exist. The answer is definitive: there was no crime, no predicate to invade Donald Trump’s home. We’re working backwards from that and holding people accountable for weaponizing the system of justice. We at the FBI must restore accountability and credibility with the American people so we can continue arresting more Top Ten predators, go after terrorists, and find others involved in Abbey Gate. These cases matter. The distractions are what eroded public belief in the FBI. Raids like Mar-a-Lago-now the American public knows it was false and unconstitutional. We are working on those matters. We know there was no reason. Now it is time for accountability. If you’ve got nothing to hide and you were in DOJ or FBI before, you are welcome to come talk to the FBI at any time. If you don’t, we’ll find you and put you in an investigative position that will make you uncomfortable, like when you weaponized government. But we’ll do it on a factual, legal, and constitutional basis. LARRY KUDLOW: Any doubt in your mind that the progenitors of Russiagate were Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton? Hillary Clinton’s campaign invented the Steele dossier, and Barack Obama gave it new legs. Is there any doubt that’s correct? KASH PATEL: No. Look at the ICA that was declassified by Director Ratcliffe. It shows that people didn’t follow appropriate procedures, and Brennan, Clapper, and Comey put their thumb on the scale. They said this document has to be written in such a way that President Obama at the time, and Hillary Clinton, could use it. That’s not me saying it-that’s in the documents. LARRY KUDLOW: You bet we reported on Russiagate from the jump. KASH PATEL: Yes, you did. LARRY KUDLOW: It infuriated me. And listen, quite true-I worked for Trump, but I did it because this is an American thing. We have to restore the integrity of the law enforcement system. Kash Patel, last minute. A lot smaller beer than what we’ve been talking about, but this business about mortgage fraud is cropping up everywhere. Now we have Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, Senator Adam Schiff, and Attorney General of New York Letitia James. Does the FBI investigate mortgage fraud? KASH PATEL: Generally speaking, it’s a multi-agency effort. We reach out to experts and other institutions, and we say: if there is a matter you want us to look at, provide us with documentation. We’ll review it and work with our partners at DOJ. LARRY KUDLOW: If you have a contract, that’s hard to fudge. You say your primary residence-yes or no. I don’t understand what’s hard about that. KASH PATEL: Yeah, and we’re rooting out any sort of corruption-public corruption. That’s what President Trump promised the American people, and that’s what the FBI will deliver, whether mortgage fraud or public corruption. You saw a couple of takedowns by the FBI last month of two sitting mayors and police officers in New Orleans. We have a lot more public corruption cases coming. <.blockquote>
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