FBI Director Kash Patel sends memo calling CNN report of ATF cuts 'entirely false'
FIRST ON FOX - FBI Director Kash Patel is strongly refuting a CNN report alleging he is implementing a "major cutback" of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in a memo to ATF employees, Fox News Digital has learned.
CNN reported Saturday that Patel "has outlined plans to move as many as 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI" and "cutting ATF’s agents by more than a third," according to three unnamed sources.
"The move represents a major cutback of the ATF, an agency that long has been in the crosshairs of gun rights groups that believe its work infringes on Second Amendment rights," CNN said. "The ATF has about 2,600 agents and more than 5,000 employees, a number that has remained largely unchanged for years."
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"After publication of this story and resulting pushback including from Republican allies, FBI officials began to back off aspects of their plan, according to a US official familiar with the matter," the report stated.
Patel, who is currently also serving as acting director of the ATF, issued a memo to ATF staff denying the CNN report.
"I want to address a report from this weekend speculating about the intentions of FBI leadership with personnel decisions at the ATF," Patel began the memo obtained by Fox News Digital. "This weekend, CNN reported news of a plan on the part of our leadership to ‘cut as many as one third’ of ATF agents and reallocate 1,000 agents over to the FBI. The report even suggested our leadership team altered course after reading a news report, and ultimately backed off certain aspects of changes. This ‘report’ is entirely false."
"The fake news will NEVER be responsible for operational command authority over the ATF, we are," Patel declared. "The brave men and women of the ATF who courageously dedicate themselves to protecting the American public will not have their security jeopardized by the media’s disinformation campaigns. When we make decisions, they will be final, regardless of the input of CNN or any other news organization."
CNN declined Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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Patel previewed his tough stance against the media in remarks he made after being sworn in as FBI director last month.
"Look, I know the media's in here, and if you have a target, the target's right here," Patel said as he pointed to himself. "It is not the men and women at the FBI."
"You have written everything you possibly can about me that's fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory. Keep it coming. Bring it on, but leave the men and women of the FBI out of it. They deserve better," Patel told news outlets, sparking applause from his supporters in the room.
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President Donald Trump tasked Patel to overhaul the FBI, which has been viewed as politicized in recent years.