FBI Director Kash Patel fired an agent and one-time ally after he spread conspiracy theories and made veiled threats against him, according to a new report. It’s now the second time he’s been ousted from the bureau in just four years.
Steven Friend, a whistleblower who alleged the Biden-era FBI targeted conservatives, was dismissed by Patel last week after he made comments that led to him being considered a threat to the director, The New York Post reported.
“You better pray to Gaia or Vishnu or whatever your maker is that real Steve Friend is never in a position to be an instrument of God’s wrath,” Friend said on a podcast hosted by former FBI agent Kyle Seraphin on December 5.
“I will be merciful: I won’t give you a trial and a hanging,” Friend added. “I’ll allow you to breathe every breath that your body will have for the rest of its natural life inside of a box, and then when it ultimately fades to black, that’s when real wrath begins.”
Although Friend didn’t directly name the FBI director, he implied that Patel was behind the arrest of Brian Cole Jr. — the alleged Washington, D.C. pipe bomber — indicating, without evidence, that he was part of a cover up. His remark about the Hindu god Vishnu may have been a reference to Patel’s religion, the Post noted.
The clip triggered concern at the FBI’s headquarters, and Friend was required to report to the bureau’s Jacksonville field office beginning last week. He was then fired from the agency in a letter dated December 12.
“You are being summarily dismissed from your position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and removed from the federal service, under my authority as the FBI Director, effective immediately,” Patel wrote, according to The Daily Beast.
“You have demonstrated unprofessional conduct and poor judgment,” the letter added.
It’s now the second time Friend, a former SWAT team agent, has been disciplined by the bureau.
In 2022, he was suspended by then-FBI Director Chris Wray after he alleged that the agency had used excessive force to go after individuals involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The following year, he and several other whistleblowers testified before Congress, alleging that the bureau had become politicized and that their security clearances were revoked on account of their views about the Capitol riot.
“I sacrificed my dream job to share this information with the American people,” Friend said at the time. “I humbly ask all the members to do your jobs and consider the merit of what I have presented.”
Friend became a media commentator, author and ally of Patel — who provided him with “mysterious payments,” according to Politico.
Friend reached a settlement with the Department of Justice this summer and was reinstated at the FBI in October, following Trump’s return to office. But, he had not been performing regular duties since his background check had not been completed, the Post noted.
Since his reported dismissal, Friend has repeatedly criticized Patel’s leadership at the FBI in social media posts.
A spokesperson for the FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
