Patel denies – Kash Patel, in sworn testimony to a Senate appropriations subcommittee, denied that the FBI is targeting or investigating journalists. The account of multiple incidents involving federal scrutiny of reporters, alongside Patel’s defamation lawsuits and internat
Kash Patel’s promise was blunt enough to be heard around Washington: the FBI would “go out and find the conspirators. ” not just in government. but in the media. including “the people in the media who lied about American citizens.” He made that pledge before his confirmation as FBI Director. during an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast.. Months later, pressed by Sen.. Patty Murray, D-Wash., Patel sought to put that language in the past.
At a Senate Appropriations subcommittee appearance this week, Patel denied any targeting campaign.. “I can tell you unequivocally, this FBI is targeting and investigating no journalists,” he said.. “This FBI is targeting no journalists.” The categorical nature of the denial came as controversies around his leadership continued to mount—and as the federal machinery already appeared to have moved against reporters.
Three journalists are described as having been targeted under Patel’s FBI.. Hannah Natanson of the Washington Post had her home raided before dawn. with her phone. laptops and smartwatch seized by federal agents who arrived without warning. in connection with her coverage of federal workforce cuts.. Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times was investigated for potential federal stalking charges after reporting that Patel allegedly used FBI agents to chauffeur his girlfriend. the MAGA-forward country singer Alexis Wilkins.. The Atlantic’s Sarah Fitzpatrick was reportedly pulled into a criminal leak probe after reporting on Patel’s alleged drinking and erratic management of the bureau.
The pattern reported in those cases is not just about pressure on the press—it’s also about who is being singled out.. The three journalists described are women. and their work is portrayed as focused on accountability reporting rather than wartime secrets or covert operations.. Natanson’s reporting is tied to federal workforce cuts. Williamson’s to the alleged use of agents for a relationship-related arrangement. and Fitzpatrick’s to allegations about Patel’s behavior and management.. The tension between Patel’s oath-level denial and the described incidents is now at the center of the argument surrounding his leadership.
Patel also faces allegations that he has used the federal judiciary as a personal tool to silence critics. rather than limiting his response to ordinary channels of dispute.. In June 2025. he filed a defamation lawsuit in Houston against Frank Figliuzzi after the former FBI official appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and said Patel had been “visible at nightclubs far more than he has been on the seventh floor” of the bureau’s headquarters.. On April 21, U.S.. District Judge George Hanks Jr.. tossed the suit out, calling the statement obvious “rhetorical hyperbole that cannot constitute defamation.” Patel filed an appeal on Thursday.. Patel also lodged an unrelated $250 million defamation lawsuit in D.C.. federal court against The Atlantic over its reporting on his alleged alcohol abuse.
Even as the legal fights unfold, Patel’s official travel has been framed as another source of controversy.. In July 2025. his New Zealand trip is described as including gifts of 3D-printed replica pistols to local police and intelligence chiefs. items that were said to be illegal to possess under the country’s gun laws.. In February, his trip to the Milan Olympics is described as including a visit where he crashed the U.S.. men’s hockey locker
room to party with the athletes. followed by a defense of the taxpayer-funded excursion as a “purposely planned” operation centered around an Italian cybercrime investigation.. In August. Patel’s trip to Hawaii is described as being ostensibly for briefings. but flight tracking data is said to show the FBI’s Gulfstream G550 lingering on the tarmac for days so Patel could take part in an exclusive. restrictive “VIP snorkel” tour over the sunken wreckage of the USS
Arizona. a sacred military cemetery containing the remains of over 900 American servicemen that remains strictly off-limits to the public.
The relationship between Patel’s sworn denial and the incidents described sits at the heart of the dispute: he told Congress the FBI is targeting and investigating no journalists. while separate accounts describe raids. an investigation tied to stalking allegations. and a criminal leak probe aimed at reporters.. The cases are also framed as sharing a similar logic—press coverage that embarrassed Patel or powerful figures—while the delivery of those cases lands on women doing accountability work.
No actual prosecutions of journalists have occurred in the account presented here.. The concern, as described, is that selective intimidation and raids can still create a chilling effect even without mass charges.. Patel’s earlier pledge to “come after” media figures before taking office is positioned against his later courtroom-simple language to Sen.. Murray that the FBI is targeting no journalists.
In June 2025 and after. Patel’s legal strategies and travel controversies continue to build the broader picture that Washington is responding to his approach faster than it would have in earlier eras.. The account argues that he announced his intention to go after the media. was hired to “destroy the FBI from within. ” and that—through “broken morale” and lawsuits—he is succeeding. even as other described claims focus on whether federal investigative power is being used to deter scrutiny rather than stop crime.
Kash Patel FBI Director Senate Appropriations Patty Murray journalist targeting defamation lawsuit Frank Figliuzzi Most Wanted list federal workforce cuts Elizabeth Williamson Hannah Natanson Sarah Fitzpatrick