Patel expressed these views alongside Deputy Director Dan Bongino during an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, further noting that former FBI Director James Comey, who was dismissed by President Donald Trump in May 2017, independently chose not to pursue any charges against the former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.
“(The previous) FBI overstepped the constitutional duties assigned to the Department of Justice and the Attorney General,” Patel remarked, adding, “Comey made unilateral decisions regarding which cases to prosecute and which to dismiss.”
Patel specifically mentioned Clinton’s email controversy prior to the 2016 election—before she allegedly orchestrated the ‘Trump-Russia collusion’ narrative to divert attention from herself.
“If you doubt my claims, refer to the video evidence,” Patel stated, adding that Comey “deliberately excluded investigation details or misrepresented prosecution choices during his time as FBI Director.”
During the peak of the campaign season in the summer of 2016, Comey held a press conference to declare that, although the FBI had uncovered what many considered prosecutable offenses related to Clinton’s attempts to hide emails from investigators, “no reasonable prosecutor” would file charges.
Then, under significant pressure and merely ten days before the election, he reopened the inquiry into the email scandal, claiming that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had jeopardized national security by utilizing a personal email server while serving as Secretary of State. Clinton subsequently cited the timing of this renewed investigation as a crucial element in her electoral defeat.
Patel also addressed the ensuing investigation into Trump’s purported connections to Russia, which ultimately proved to be a fabrication.
Bongino provided further details during a Thursday interview on “Fox & Friends.”
The deputy director stated that his office discovered evidence from Comey’s time in a location that had been “concealed from us,” as the bureau has had to reallocate resources due to ongoing internal investigations.
“I wouldn’t describe it as hidden, but at least concealed from us and not communicated to us, and then we uncovered materials in there, much of which is from the Comey era, and we are currently making every effort to declassify it,” Bongino informed Fox News.
He continued: “I completely understand people saying, ‘Well, do it now.’ The reality is that not all information is ours to declassify; some belongs to other intelligence agencies, and we literally cannot do it.”
“Once that is completed and made public, and you review some of the materials we found that … were not processed through the standard procedure of digitization and inclusion in FBI records. We discovered it in bags hidden beneath Jim Comey’s FBI, and you will be astonished,” Bongino remarked.
Bongino refrained from revealing specific details about the findings but seized the chance to criticize Comey, who was removed during Trump’s first term. His comments were in response to a question from a Fox News anchor referencing earlier statements from Patel regarding a social media post made by Comey.
The dismissed FBI director attracted attention earlier this month after sharing an image on Instagram depicting seashells arranged to form “8647,” along with the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Some officials within the administration suspect that the message was directed at President Donald Trump.
The term “86,” which originates from restaurant and hospitality terminology, typically signifies the removal, rejection, or elimination of someone or something, according to Merriam-Webster, while ’47’ pertains to Trump.
