Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,
FBI Director Kash Patel has dismissed claims that the bureau has become more politicized under his watch in the wake of former Director James Comey’s indictment on Thursday.
In a post early on Friday, Patel defended the FBI’s efforts in the investigation targeting Comey and said that the media, in part, was to blame.
“Career FBI agents, intel analysts, and staff led the investigation into Comey and others. They called the balls and strikes and will continue to do so,” he wrote in a statement on X.
“The wildly false accusations attacking this FBI for the politicization of law enforcement comes from the same bankrupt media that sold the world on Russia Gate—it’s hypocrisy on steroids.”
Russiagate refers to claims that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election to aid President Donald Trump, which he has categorically denied. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in July said that the Obama administration “manufactured and politicized intelligence” to target Trump, although a special counsel investigation led by former FBI head Robert Mueller in 2019 concluded Russia did interfere in the election.
“Their baseless objections tell us now, more than ever, that we are precisely over the target and will remain on mission until completion,” Patel also wrote.
Comey was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced. Grand jurors rejected one of the counts that was brought against Comey, but ultimately returned an indictment against the former FBI director.
He’s charged with making a false statement and obstruction relating to testimony he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020. He could face up to five years in prison if convicted, said the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The charges as alleged in this case represent a breach of the public trust at an extraordinary level,” U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan said in a statement.
“The balance of power is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and it relies upon accountability and a forthright presentation of facts from executive leadership to congressional oversight.
“Any intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance is a violation of professional responsibility and, most importantly, the law.”
In a statement responding to the indictment, Comey denied the allegations that were brought against him.
“My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system. And I’m innocent. So let’s have a trial,” he said in a video statement on Thursday, characterizing the indictment as retaliation for “standing up to” Trump.
The indictment against Comey said that the former FBI director “falsely” stated to a senator that he had not “authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports. It added that the ”statement was false“ because Comey knew that ”he in fact had authorized” that individual to become an anonymous source in thouse reports, according to the indictment that was filed on Thursday.
The indictment has triggered criticism from congressional Democrats.
“Today, after firing his own choice for U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, Donald Trump finally got a subservient new replacement to carry out his revenge prosecution against former FBI Director James Comey by bringing baseless criminal charges against him,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump hailed the DOJ’s decision. The president said that he believes Comey was fully aware of the allegedly false statement made to the Senate.
“He knew exactly what he was saying, and that it was a very serious and far reaching lie for which a very big price must be paid,” the president wrote.