FBI Director Kash Patel fumes over James Comey ‘copycats' forcing overwhelmed agency to pull agents off child sex predator, drug trafficking cases
The FBI has been overwhelmed investigating James Comey 'copycats' in the wake of his controversial '86 47' Instagram post, Director Kash Patel revealed Wednesday.
'Do you know how many copycats we've had to investigate as a result of that beachside venture from the former director?' Patel told Fox News 'Special Report' host Bret Baier, during an interview from the bureau's academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Patel indicated that the uptick in potential threats against President Trump since Comey's May 15 post has been so substantial that the FBI has had to redirect significant resources – including agents focused on child sex crimes and drug trafficking – to investigate them.
4 Patel discussed the Comey copycats during an interview with Bret Baier.
Fox News
4 James Comey, former FBI Director, speaks at the Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on May 19, 2025 in New York City.
Getty Images
'Do you know how many agents I've had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists .. because everywhere across this country people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the president of the United States is a joke … and they can do it because [Comey] did it?' the FBI chief said.
'That's what I'm having to deal with every single day,' Patel fumed. 'And that's why I'm having to pull my agents and analysts off – because [Comey] thought it was funny to go out there and make a political statement.'
The FBI did not immediately respond to The Post's request for details on the surge in possible threats against Trump since the former FBI director's Instagram post.
4 Patel indicated that the uptick in potential threats against President Trump since Comey's May 15 post has been so substantial that the FBI has had to redirect significant resources.
comey/Instagram
4 Former FBI Director James Comey departs after giving a private deposition to the House Judiciary and House Government and Oversight committees on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 7, 2018.
REUTERS
In the since-deleted post, Comey shared an image of seashells arranged on a beach to form the numbers '86 47,' which many Republicans, including Trump, viewed as a call to assassinate the 47th president.
Comey, who was fired by Trump in May 2017 after serving as FBI director since September 2013, was interviewed by Secret Service investigators the day after the post.
The former director indicated during an interview with MSNBC last week that he doesn't expect criminal charges or any additional action from the Trump administration over the shell post, which he viewed at the time – and still does – as 'totally innocent.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
25 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Surges Among Millennials
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump's approval rating among millennials has surged, according to a new poll. The latest YouGov/Yahoo poll, conducted May 22-27 among 1,560 adults, shows that Trump's job approval among 30- to 44-year-olds is at 41 percent, up from 33 percent in April. Disapproval is down to 51 percent from 59 percent in April. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points. Why It Matters Millennials, typically defined as born between 1981 and 1996, represent the largest bloc of the U.S. electorate. Trump reduced the Democrats' lead among voters aged 30 to 44 by 9 points between 2020 and 2024, from 12 points to 3. However, since the beginning of his second term, polls have shown signs of waning support for Trump among millennials. But the new poll shows his approval rating among this demographic may be creeping up again. For Trump, a rebound in support from voters age 29 to 44 could help stabilize his approval ratings at a time when he has faced discontent over issues such as immigration and the economy. While millennials have historically leaned Democratic, even a modest uptick in support during his second term could strengthen his political leverage and influence the landscape for the 2026 midterms and beyond. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025, in Washington. President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on May 28, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP What To Know The boost for Trump comes as more millennials now say the country is headed in the right direction. According to the poll, 32 percent are optimistic about the direction of the country, up from 26 percent. Trump's approval ratings have generally been ticking up in recent weeks after a period of decline following the introduction of his "Liberation Day" tariffs in April. The policy move rattled markets, prompting a sharp sell-off before an eventual recovery and a pause on the tariffs by the Trump administration. Since then, economic anxiety has died down. Consumer confidence saw a surprising increase in May. The Conference Board reported a rise to 98.0, much higher than both the expected 87.1 and April's 86.0 reading. It was the biggest one-month jump in more than a year. At the same time, Trump's general approval ratings are on the rebound. Newsweek's tracker currently shows that 46 percent approve of Trump's job performance, while 51 percent disapprove. Earlier this month, his approval rating stood at 44 percent, while his disapproval rate was firmly in the 50s. Other polls have shown the same trend. The latest Insider Advantage poll, conducted May 17-19 among 1,000 likely voters, gave Trump a net approval rating of +11 points, with 55 percent approving and 44 percent disapproving. That was up from a net approval rating of +2 points in early May, when 46 percent approved and 44 percent disapproved. Poll Date Approve Disapprove Rasmussen May 29 52 47 YouGov/Economist May 23-26 44 52 Morning Consult May 23-25 48 50 YouGov/Yahoo May 22-27 41 54 Quantus May 18-20 48 48 Civiqs May 17-20 47 52 American Research Group May 17-20 41 55 Insider Advantage May 17-19 55 44 Reuters/Ipsos May 16-18 42 52 Navigator Research May 15-18 44 54 However, the overarching trend in the polls is one of stability, with some showing that his ratings have not substantially changed beyond a 1- or 2-point dip—within the margin of error—or have not changed at all. That includes the most recent Navigator Research poll, conducted May 15-18 among 1,376 registered voters which showed Trump's approval rating at 44 percent, while 54 percent disapprove. That is unchanged from April. Similarly, in Quantus' latest poll, conducted May 18-20, Trump's approval rating stood at 48 percent, while 48 percent disapproved. That is unchanged from a poll conducted earlier in May, and an April poll also showed his approval rating stood at 48 percent, while his disapproval rating at 50 percent. Marquette's most recent poll also showed his approval rating unchanged from March, while an American Research Group poll, conducted March 17-20 among 1,100 adults, put Trump's approval rating at 41 percent, down just 2 points from April. His disapproval grew from 53 percent to 55 percent. And the latest Civiqs poll, conducted May 17-20 among 1,018 registered voters, put Trump's approval up by 1 point, and his disapproval down by 1 point. The same trend occurred in the latest YouGov/Economist poll, conducted May 23-26 among 1,660 adults, which put his approval at 44 percent and disapproval at 52 percent. The latest YouGov/Yahoo poll put Trump's approval down 1 point to 41 percent and his disapproval up 1 point to 54 percent. In Morning Consult's latest survey, conducted May 23-25 among 2,237 registered voters, Trump's approval rating was unchanged at 48 percent while his disapproval was up 1 point to 51 percent. What Happens Next Trump's approval rating among millennials could fluctuate in the coming weeks, depending on the outcome of key events, including critical negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine war, the evolving tariff situation and concerns about a recession.
Associated Press
26 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Rural Democratic lawmaker announces switch to the GOP in the latest setback for Kentucky Democrats
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A longtime state lawmaker announced Friday that she is switching parties, joining Republican supermajorities in the latest setback for Democrats trying to rebuild support across rural Kentucky. State Sen. Robin Webb, who represents a four-county swath of northeastern Kentucky, revealed she will join the ranks of GOP lawmakers who control the flow of legislation in the state. Webb was one of the last rural Democrats in Kentucky's legislature, and her defection leaves her ex-party more tethered to urban and suburban districts in a state with large stretches of rural territory controlled by the GOP. Webb said in a prepared release that the state's Democratic Party has continued to 'lurch left.' 'It has become untenable and counterproductive to the best interests of my constituents for me to remain a Democrat,' Webb said. 'I will continue to be a fearless advocate for rural Kentucky and for the residents of eastern Kentucky who have been so good to me and my family.' Webb has compiled a resume deeply ingrained in Kentucky culture. She has ties to the coal industry and is a well-known gun enthusiast who changed career paths to become an attorney. Webb first joined the Kentucky House in 1999, when Democrats controlled the chamber. She spent a decade as a state representative before joining the GOP-led Senate in 2009. Republicans seized total control of the legislature in the 2016 election, when they rode Donald Trump's coattails to win the Kentucky House for the first time in nearly a century. Republicans padded their legislative numbers in subsequent elections, giving them their overwhelming majorities. Republicans attained that dominance by winning in rural districts previously held by Democrats, but Webb's district had remained a blue dot on the map until Friday. Her party switch leaves Democrats mostly devoid of a rural presence in the legislature. One exception is Democratic state Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty, who represents an Appalachian district. The state's two-term governor, Democrat Andy Beshear, won a number of rural counties and shrank GOP margins in others in his 2023 reelection. His popularity was built on the state's robust economic growth in his first term and his handling of disasters, from tornadoes and floods to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kentucky Democrats are trying to spark a rural comeback with a grassroots strategy, evidenced by the state party's ongoing 'listening tour' with stops in culturally conservative towns across the state. Lawmakers will begin their 2026 session in early January, but Beshear has said he will likely call lawmakers back for a special session sometime this year to take up storm-relief funding. Parts of southeastern Kentucky were devastated by deadly tornadoes earlier in May, while other parts of the Bluegrass State were inundated by flooding in April.
Chicago Tribune
26 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Supreme Court lets President Donald Trump end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday again cleared the way for the Trump administration to strip temporary legal protections from hundreds of thousands of immigrants, pushing the total number of people who could be newly exposed to deportation to nearly 1 million. The justices lifted a lower-court order that kept humanitarian parole protections in place for more than 500,000 migrants from four countries: Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The court has also allowed the administration to revoke temporary legal status from about 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in another case. Republican President Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to deport millions of people, and in office has sought to dismantle Biden administration polices that created ways for migrants to live legally in the U.S. Trump amplified false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio with legal status under the humanitarian parole program were abducting and eating pets during his only debate with President Joe Biden, according to court documents. His administration filed an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court after a federal judge in Boston blocked the administration's push to end the program. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson wrote in dissent that the effect of the court's order is 'to have the lives of half a million migrants unravel all around us before the courts decide their legal claims.' Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent. Jackson echoed what U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in ruling that ending the legal protections early would leave people with a stark choice: flee the country or risk losing everything. Talwani, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, found that revocations of parole can be done, but on a case-by-case basis. Her ruling came in mid-April, shortly before permits were due to be canceled. An appeals court refused to lift her order. The Supreme Court's order is not a final ruling, but it means the protections will not be in place while the case proceeds. It now returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. The Justice Department argues that the protections were always meant to be temporary, and the Department of Homeland Security has the power to revoke them without court interference. The administration says Biden granted the parole en masse, and the law doesn't require ending it on an individual basis. Taking on each case individually would be a 'gargantuan task,' and slow the government's efforts to press for their removal, Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued. Biden used humanitarian parole more than any other president, employing a special presidential authority in effect since 1952. Beneficiaries included the 532,000 people who have come to the United States with financial sponsors since late 2022, leaving home countries fraught with 'instability, dangers and deprivations,' as attorneys for the migrants said. They had to fly to the U.S. at their own expense and have a financial sponsor to qualify for the designation, which lasts for two years. The Trump administration's decision was the first-ever mass revocation of humanitarian parole, attorneys for the migrants said. They called the Trump administration's moves 'the largest mass illegalization event in modern American history.' The case is the latest in a string of emergency appeals the administration has made to the Supreme Court, many of them related to immigration. The court has sided against Trump in other cases, including slowing his efforts to swiftly deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a prison in El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law called the Alien Enemies Act.
