Kash Patel, who served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense in the Trump administration and as the senior counsel for the House Intelligence Committee, ripped Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) for defending on Twitter what Patel deemed a “felonious statement” about FBI whistleblowers being “bought and paid for” by Patel.
Patel’s attorney recently filed an ethics complaint against Goldman and sent a referral to the Justice Department regarding the tweet. Patel believes Goldman broke the law when he used his official Twitter account to falsely claim the FBI whistleblowers were “bought and paid for” by Patel.
Suspended FBI whistleblowers Garret O’Boyle, Steve Friend, and Marcus Allen testified during a Subcommittee on Weaponization’s hearing on May 18, 2023, and detailed the alleged “abuses of power” by the FBI’s leadership, ranging from discrimination against conservatives to inflating domestic terrorism statistics.
“Kash Patel is a political hack for Donald Trump, under investigation by the DOJ for leaking classified information,” Goldman tweeted. “Today’s @Weaponization‘s witnesses were bought and paid for by Patel. This committee is simply an arm of Trump’s criminal defense team”:
Kash Patel is a political hack for Donald Trump, under investigation by the DOJ for leaking classified information.
— Rep. Dan Goldman (@RepDanGoldman) May 18, 2023
Today’s @Weaponization's witnesses were bought and paid for by Patel.
This committee is simply an arm of Trump’s criminal defense team. pic.twitter.com/nwnhVvtIJl
On Friday, Goldman defended his tweet, telling the Federalist that his “bought and paid for” comment only referred to the whistleblowers’ testimony. He appeared to backpedal and claim there was no illicit payout to the whistleblowers.
Patel exclusively told Breitbart News that Goldman’s defense was equivalent to the “I didn’t inhale” or “it’s not my bag of blow” excuse.
“He disparaged brave whistleblowers and then tried to metastasize his disinformation campaign by defaming me — all the while committing a felony in the process,” Patel said. “Too many conservatives are getting frustrated by the rudderless actions of many in Congress, so sometimes you just gotta do it yourself.”
Patel explained that he does not believe the DOJ will act on his complaint but still challenged Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to do their “damn jobs.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (L) and F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray hold a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice on October 24, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“I took action against Goldman even, though I doubt this DOJ will take action for his felonious statement from the floor of Congress,” Patel said. “Wray and Garland, do your damn jobs and arrest this member of Congress for violating Title 18 United States Code Section 1512,1519, & 1924.”
Patel demanded Garland prove a level playing field or be blamed for operating a two-tier system of justice.
“It’s simple. Show us you aren’t operating a two-tier system of justice,” he said. “The question is, who is more to blame–the executioners or those in the position to remove them and fail to do so.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
