Dem Lawmaker Presses Kash Patel on Allegedly Firing Counterintelligence Experts for Political Reasons Right Before Iran War

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) pressed FBI Director Kash Patel Thursday on whether the dozen elite counterintelligence agents he fired right before the Ian war were terminated for political reasons.

Many of the agents fired were tracking Iran-related threats, and were reportedly let go due to prior roles investigating Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.

“There was a report that came out in February from CNN that the FBI had let go or fired dozens of agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit tasked with monitoring Iran,” Houlahan said.

“And, apparently the reason, at least reported in the press, was that these individuals had been involved with the investigation into classified document handling by president Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and that this was the reason they were summarily let go. First of all, are you aware of those firings, and do you concur with the rationale or reason for those firings?” Houlahan asked.

“I’m aware of that and I know there’s a pendency of litigation, so I’m not able to comment on them,” Patel answered.

Houlahan asked if Patel had ordered the firings, and he indicated that the buck stopped with him.

“The FBI, every time there’s someone that violates our code of conduct or ethical standards conducts an internal investigation with the careers there and they present a decision point to me,” Patel said.

He then went on to tout the the Iranian Mission Center as being as strong as ever.

“So…I’m asking about whether those people were fired because they were involved in the investigation of the document handling by President Trump. Not for any behavior issues. Is that your understanding as well?” Houlahan pressed.

“Again, ma’am, I can’t comment on them because those are in pending litigation,” Patel said.

“I guess I’m a little stymied here, director, because it feels as though right, literally, when there was a possible pending war…you collectively must have been aware when these firings happened that there was a meaningful chance that the U.S. might be engaged with a war with Iran,” Houlahan said.

“And having these very expert super-qualified folks summarily dismissed at this time, it just feels like an odd choice in timing. Were you aware at the time that this was going down that this may end up weakening the mission and the readiness of that group?” she asked.

“The mission, as I stated, has never been stronger, when you see a 43% increase in counterintelligence arrests, and 21% increase in cyber arrests against the Iranian Threat Mission Center,” Patel said. “My focus is on providing the American people the strongest FBI as possible. I don’t work on timelines, I work on evidence that’s presented to me.”

Watch the questioning above via C-SPAN.

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