Former FBI director under Donald Trump criticized a television news network as an “a** clown factory” in a bizarre online outburst. Kash Patel, who now leads the FBI for Trump, expressed disagreement with a story on MSNBC regarding an agent fired for refusing to assist in orchestrating a “perp walk” of ex-director James Comey.
Allegedly, the FBI leadership sought a dramatic arrest of Comey at Trump’s behest, accusing him of lying to Congress. Reports suggest that the leadership requested robust agents dressed in full gear, including FBI-branded Kevlar vests, for the arrest.
Supervisory special agent Chris Ray from the violent crimes division was tasked with assembling the appropriate agents for the operation but declined, citing the inappropriateness of such a display for a white-collar defendant like Comey. He was purportedly suspended for insubordination.
MSNBC legal analyst Barb McQuade highlighted that the Department of Justice policy prohibits “perp walks,” where arrestees are paraded before cameras. Patel seemed to confirm the news of Agent Ray’s removal in a provocative and inaccurate social media post.
Patel’s post labeled MSNBC as a purveyor of misinformation and criticized the network for its coverage of high-profile arrests. Perp walks, typically pre-planned media events, involve detainees in police custody being led, often in restraints, to a court or police station for public viewing.
Notably, among the individuals mentioned in Patel’s post, only one was subjected to a perp walk, and none of them were perp walked by the FBI. For instance, Peter Navarro was arrested at an airport for defying a subpoena, Roger Stone was apprehended at his home with no public display, and Steve Bannon was perp walked by New York law enforcement in a separate case.
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