A group of former FBI agents called “The Suspendables” has joined forces with President Donald Trump's FBI director nominee Kash Patel as he awaits Senate confirmation, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Patel has been accused of playing a role in the firing of several top FBI officials, some of whom were “vilified” by “The Suspendables.”
“Perhaps no group is happier” about his nomination “than the coterie of suspended or former agents Patel has connected with in recent years,” write Mark Berman, Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein and Clara Ence Morse.
“The Suspendables” consider themselves to be victims of an anti-conservative bent at the FBI, and they argue that they were “punished for political differences and whistleblowing,” the journalists write. Members “have previously been accused of misconduct and suspended.”
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The stakes are high for Patel’s possible confirmation. The FBI is facing immense unrest, and Patel has been accused of playing a role in “purges of at least eight top officials while his nomination was pending.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are concerned.
“This is a private citizen with no role in government allegedly [directing] baseless firings of career politicians and then misleading this committee about his actions,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Patel’s nomination. No Democrats on the committee voted in favor of his advancement.
Some of the former FBI officials who were purged had been “vilified” by “The Suspendables” for years. The group applauded the firings via social media posts and podcast appearances.
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The members of the group deny any wrongdoing, and Patel’s spokeswoman, Erica Knight, said the idea that he was involved in the firings was “secondhand gossip.” Patel, she said, “has been fully transparent with the American people throughout this process and has demonstrated the integrity and leadership needed for this role.”
One member of the group told the Washington Post that the ex-agents have been in contact with Patel since he was nominated. Some even accepted money from his nonprofit, the Kash Foundation.
Patel “basically said, ‘I’ve got a check. I’ve got a foundation. I’d like to help your family out and get you through a month or help you pay some bills,' ex-agent and podcaster Kyle Seraphin said." Patel allegedly sent him $10,000.
According to disciplinary records, Seraphin had his security clearance revoked due to “routine use of derogatory, racist, sexist, and/or homophobic language,” and his unapproved release of “sensitive government information.” He has disputed the accusations.
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