FBI gives employees a classified 'Patel Report' about times the agency 'fell short'

The FBI has distributed a classified internal document, dubbed the "Patel Report," to its workforce, laying out what the bureau describes as episodes in its history when it fell short. The Associated Press obtained the internal message on Friday. Which episodes are covered, and whether any recommendations or actions follow, was not clear. The FBI declined to comment, according to PBS NewsHour.

A note to employees from co-deputy directors Christopher Raia and Andrew Bailey says looking backward is justified because accountability requires it. They describe the project as closing one chapter and opening another, and say it is meant to promote accountability and rebuild public trust. Bailey has said he is resigning, with Friday as his final day.

The release fits with Director Kash Patel's long-running criticism of his predecessors and his push to remove agents he says politicized the bureau. At his confirmation hearing last year, Patel said he would not dwell on the past. Since taking over, he has encouraged probes of former senior officials and overseen mass firings, including of staff tied to earlier Trump investigations, a photographed kneeling at a 2020 protest, and a disputed memo on Catholic extremism.

Summarized by PolitiKool from PBS NewsHour’s reporting. Read the full story at PBS NewsHour →