From Mother Jones · Alex Nguyen · · 1m 20s
Patel denies firing the FBI's Iran experts
An FBI director keeps rejecting reports that his purge gutted the bureau's Iran unit weeks before a war.
In brief
An FBI director keeps rejecting reports that his purge gutted the bureau's Iran unit weeks before a war. Patel has now denied the same reporting in three hearings without answering what the firings cost the FBI's Iran watch. Originally reported by Mother Jones.
Oversight day, no answers
Kash Patel sat for Senate Judiciary oversight on September 15, 2026, and gave almost nothing on the agents he fired over the Trump classified documents case.
A dozen from the Iran unit
Multiple outlets report at least a dozen fired counterintelligence staffers worked in the unit tracking Iranian threats. The firings landed days before the February military campaign began.
Blumenthal draws the line
The senator asked whether removing the president's perceived opponents mattered more than keeping decades of Iran expertise inside the bureau.
“Do you think firing the president's political opponents is more important than retaining the decades of experience?”
They're not experts
Patel's reply was flat denial plus a slogan about ending a weaponized FBI. He never engaged with what the unit actually did.
“The individuals you are referring to are not experts.”
The contradiction he skipped
Blumenthal noted Patel had promised not to punish agents for their casework, then did exactly that. Patel answered with a circular line instead of the question.
“Simple. If you weaponize law enforcement, you don't get to work at the FBI.”
Third hearing, same denial
Patel rejected the reporting in a March House hearing and again in May, citing pending litigation. Three fired agents sued in March, alleging retribution for the 2020 election investigations.
The essence
Patel has now denied the same reporting in three hearings without answering what the firings cost the FBI's Iran watch.
