FBI Director Kash Patel delivered a progress report on Friday, and it was all results. “The priorities at the Bureau, they haven’t changed,” he said. “It’s violent crime, defending the homeland.”
Patel pointed to Washington state, where he said crime is down 15 points. “That’s one and a half times the national average,” he told the agents behind it. “You guys are getting after it.”
The Bureau is also going where Washington long ignored. “We have launched the largest Bureau effort in Indian Country history,” Patel said. “We’ve got nearly 500 FBI agents dedicated to the Indian Country mission alone.”
Then came Operation Blackout, the FBI’s strike on the overseas scam rings that drain Americans’ savings. “Every community is being defrauded. Doesn’t matter where in the country you are,” Patel said. “We’ve dismantled 23 scam compounds,” and evidence was brought back to the U.S. to share with investigators. Most importantly, he said, the FBI has seen “$17 billion in assets and currencies that were being fleeced from American citizens.”
His message to the bad guys was direct: “To the criminals preying on Americans: We’re coming for you. And we’re not letting up.”
