FBI Director Kash Patel said the Bureau lied to obtain warrants to spy on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
This has been an ongoing issue ever since it was revealed that forces within the FBI and other agencies sought to use their positions to prevent Trump from winning the election and also to disrupt his presidency.
From Fox News:
FBI Director Kash Patel accused the FBI of lying to obtain surveillance warrants to illegally spy on President Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign and subsequent first term.
Trump has long accused his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama of being ringleaders in an alleged spying conspiracy against his campaign, an allegation both have denied. Patel detailed the yearslong federal investigation into the alleged surveillance on the latest episode of "Hang Out with Sean Hannity."
"It took me two years of my life to prove the following: that a political party in the United States of America in the 21st century would go overseas and hire some bogus intelligence asset to manufacture fraudulent, fake, unverified information, funnel that to not just the intelligence community, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation," he said.
"And then take those packaged lies that they had paid for with campaign finance funds and go into a secret surveillance court and illegally spy on your opponent to be the president of the United States."
Patel's comments come as scrutiny intensifies over the federal government’s use of spying power and following Congress’ renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days.
Section 702 of FISA permits authorized U.S. officials to collect phone calls and text messages of foreign targets, but in doing so can also capture Americans’ communications – a piece of legislation Trump strongly opposes.
Patel told Fox News that FISA warrants – some signed by former FBI Director James Comey – were used to illegally spy on Trump and top officials, including himself, during the 2016 campaign and in years that followed.
"I was illegally spied on by the likes of Rod Rosenstein (former U.S. deputy attorney general) and Chris Wray (former FBI director) and 10 other staffers on the Hill and people who were elected to serve this country in the halls of Congress,” Patel said.
He noted that the warrants were later rescinded by the FISA court in 2018.
FBI Director Kash Patel is accusing the bureau of lying to federal judges to obtain warrants used to illegally spy on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 6, 2026
Patel claims Democrats went overseas to hire a “bogus intelligence asset” in order to create “fraudulent, fake,… pic.twitter.com/DUO3tBgiKw
The Bureau’s spying operation against Trump prompted a national debate over how agencies use Section 702 to spy on American citizens without first obtaining warrants. Now, Congress is debating over whether to renew the provision as is or reform it.
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— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) April 15, 2026
National security hawks argue that the measure is necessary for monitoring terrorists, cyber threats, drug traffickers, and other foreign dangers. Conversely, civil liberties advocates argue that it empowers the federal government to incidentally collect Americans’ communications without seeking a warrant.
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