Fox host Maria Bartiromo didn’t buy the talking points being handed to her by FBI Director Kash Patel this morning on the network, and she let him know in no uncertain terms that his excuses sounded hollow.
Patel began by telling Bartiromo, “Secretary [Kristi] Noem stated perfectly, you do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions. You do get to do that in Minnesota, L.A., or anywhere else.”
“No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines. That is not a peaceful protest, and you do not get to touch law enforcement. You do that anywhere, this FBI is going to be following — leading the charge to arrest those.” he added.
That’s when Bartiromo began pushing back on the FBI chief.
“But how was he threatening Border Patrol?! You’ve collected the evidence, you said, right? You have the handgun in your possession. And how was he using that handgun in terms of threatening Border Patrol? What was the threat? He had his camera, right? He was filming it.”
Patel: “That’s something that I let the DHS and the prosecutors — because they are the ones investigating that case, I don’t want to stylize that evidence. But I trust the men and women on the ground who are trained professionals to only use it when it’s absolutely necessary. And I trust Secretary Noem’s leadership and DHS, and HSI to do the right thing, as they’ve always done in these scenarios.”
“Kristi Noem said that the individual approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun,” Bartiromo noted. “Was the gun visible, or did Border Patrol see the gun after they shot him?”
“Again, all those pieces of the investigation are being led by DHS and HSI, and I don’t wanna comment on their ongoing investigation,” Patel replied.
“I understand,” Bartiromo said. “But you have the evidence. What can you tell us about the evidence you collected?”
“It’s sent to our FBI laboratory, where it’ll be finger-pristed,” Patel said. “We’ll use ballistics examination toolkits to see if any casings were fired. And we’ll examine all the casings that were found on the scene.”
Sounds like a coverup, doesn’t it? If the feds have evidence, they should share it with state and local officials in Minnesota and the public. After all, the Border Patrol agent who killed Alex Pretti is paid with our taxes and we have a right to know why a federal official murdered a civilian. And if they cannot explain and give us the facts, then they don’t deserve another dime from Congress.
