Days before Kash Patel’s high-stakes confirmation hearing for FBI director, a bureau insider has come forward with allegations questioning Patel’s judgment during sensitive hostage rescue missions, CBS News has learned.
The whistleblower, whose identity is being withheld by Senate Democrats due to fears of retaliation, previously worked with the FBI’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, the unit responsible for coordinating U.S. efforts to rescue hostages overseas. The individual alleges that Patel violated long-established protocols designed to keep such operations confidential until the captives were safely in U.S. custody and their families had been notified.
Allegations of Breached Protocols
In a letter obtained by CBS News, Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Patel of breaching protocol while serving on the National Security Council (NSC) during the first Trump administration. Durbin wrote that Patel “broke protocol regarding hostage rescues by publicly commenting without authorization on the then-in-progress retrieval of two Americans held captive by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen in October 2020.”
According to the letter, on October 14 at 10:55 a.m., The Wall Street Journal published a story in which Patel confirmed that the two American captives and the remains of a third had been exchanged for 200 Houthi fighters held in Saudi Arabia. The report was published “several hours before the hostages were in the confirmed custody of the United States.” Although the Americans ultimately returned home safely, FBI officials involved in the mission were reportedly outraged by Patel’s leak, viewing it as reckless and potentially jeopardizing the operation.
On Monday morning, Democratic senators sent the letter to Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Acting Treasury Secretary David Lebryk, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They requested all records of communications between Patel and the FBI’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell regarding the rescue, as well as any documentation authorizing Patel to disclose the hostage exchange before the hostages were confirmed to be safe.
No Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee signed the letter.
Defenders Dismiss Allegations
A source close to Patel’s confirmation dismissed the allegations, stating, “Mr. Patel was a public defender, decorated prosecutor, and accomplished national security official who kept Americans safe. He has a track record of success in every branch of government, from the courtroom to congressional hearing rooms to the Situation Room. There is no veracity to this anonymous source’s complaints about protocol.”
Alex Gray, former chief of staff for the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, echoed this sentiment, calling the accusations “simply absurd to anyone who has ever actually worked with Kash Patel.” Gray stated, “The success President Trump and his NSC had on counterterrorism and hostage recovery missions was in no small part due to Kash’s skill and professionalism.” He described the whistleblower’s claims as “baseless” and “the last gasp of discredited political opponents of President Trump.”
Durbin’s Strategy for the Confirmation Hearing
The Durbin letter provides insight into the Democratic strategy for Patel’s confirmation hearing. Sources indicate that Democratic senators intend to argue that Patel has demonstrated a pattern of poor judgment and self-promotion in critical life-and-death situations, questioning his suitability to lead the FBI.
The letter asserts that any official “who puts missions or the lives of Americans in jeopardy for public notoriety and personal gain is unfit to lead the country’s primary federal law enforcement and investigative agency.”
Another Controversial Hostage Mission
Democrats also plan to highlight another instance in which Patel faced criticism for his handling of a sensitive operation. Just two weeks after the Yemen hostage deal, Patel was involved in another high-risk rescue effort concerning Philip Walton, a 27-year-old American kidnapped at his farm in Niger and taken across the border to Nigeria.
The kidnappers demanded a $1 million ransom and were suspected of considering handing Walton over to a terrorist group. While accompanying President Trump on a visit to Fort Bragg, Patel received intelligence that Walton was being held at an encampment for several hours—providing a window for a Navy SEAL Team 6 raid. President Trump authorized the mission, which involved parachuting into northern Nigeria and trekking for miles to the compound.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper had approved the plan but was waiting for final confirmation that Nigeria had granted U.S. forces permission to use its airspace. According to Esper’s memoir, A Sacred Oath, Patel, then the NSC’s senior director for counterterrorism, incorrectly assured Defense Department officials that the State Department had secured the necessary clearance.
By the time officials realized the mistake, Air Force planes carrying the Navy SEALs were already in the air near the Nigerian border. Esper described an agonizing decision: proceed with the mission and risk the aircraft being shot down, or abort the operation and potentially miss the chance to save Walton. At the last minute, the State Department received clearance, and the mission was successfully carried out.
While Walton was rescued unharmed, Esper and other officials were reportedly furious with Patel, believing he had overstepped protocol and nearly compromised the operation by providing false information. “I was concerned that being packed in an aircraft burning holes in the sky for an extra hour or so would wear on the special operators, that it might affect their readiness somehow,” Esper wrote in his memoir.
Esper also noted, “My team suspected Patel made the approval story up, but they didn’t have all the facts.”
Patel Denies Wrongdoing
Patel has denied Esper’s version of events. In his own book, Government Gangsters, he portrayed Esper as a “deep-state” actor who “always seemed to be subverting the president’s agenda,” particularly by imposing obstacles to counterterrorism operations in Africa and the Middle East. Patel argued that President Trump had the ultimate authority to approve the mission.
Durbin’s Opposition to Patel’s Nomination
Last week, Durbin met with Patel and questioned him about Esper’s account of the Nigerian raid. Patel again refuted the claims. At the time, Durbin was not yet aware of the whistleblower’s allegations regarding the Yemen hostage mission, but he is expected to press Patel on the matter during Thursday’s confirmation hearing.
Regardless of Patel’s responses, Durbin and Senate Democrats appear firmly opposed to his nomination. Following his meeting with Patel, Durbin released a statement making his position clear:
“Kash Patel has neither the experience, the temperament, nor the judgment to lead the FBI.”
(CBSN)