Kash Patel denied that his appendix naming 60 people was an enemies list, calling it documentation of those who had weaponized the government. Five people named on that list have faced federal investigations within seven months, including John Bolton, James Comey, John Brennan, Miles Taylor, and Lt Col Alexander Vindman. Bolton's home and office were searched reportedly for classified documents. The overlap between Patel's list and these investigations raises concerns because federal probes normally proceed from tips, evidence, or ongoing criminal activity. Reviving previously closed matters requires deliberate prosecutorial choices and appears unprecedented in its targeting of critics.
When Kash Patel, the FBI director, faced senators during his confirmation hearings on 30 January, he bristled at suggestions that his 2023 book contained an enemies list. The appendix to Government Gangsters, which included a list of names for 60 people, was simply documentation of those who had weaponized the government, he insisted. Seven months later, that denial appears increasingly hollow.
Bolton now joins a growing list of Trump critics from Patel's roll the administration has targeted with what appear to be retaliatory federal investigations: James Comey, the former FBI director, John Brennan, the former CIA director, Miles Taylor, the ex-homeland security official and Lt Col Alexander Vindman. All five people, investigated in just seven months, were on Patel's 60-name list.
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