I became a special agent for the FBI in 2000, and over the following years, I saw the bureau transform. Leading up to the September 11 attacks, it had been focused primarily on its criminal work — such as uncovering mafia activity, investigating violent and white-collar crime, and rooting out drug trafficking — and had arguably been distracted from the threat by Al Qaeda that had taken root in the US. But after that terrible day, under Robert Mueller’s leadership, the FBI evolved quickly, bolstering its national security work to better prevent terrorist attacks, its top priority.
I left the FBI last year, having held multiple leadership roles overseeing counter-terrorism and criminal investigations. I was pushed out of my post along with seven other senior executives. The bureau remains strong, thanks to the talented and dedicated men and women serving within it, but the ousters of dozens of experienced personnel since Donald Trump took office — some of whom handled threats from Iran — represent a dangerous fact about the current leadership.
Kash Patel is consumed by politically motivated revenge and conspiracy theories, distracting the FBI, once again, from the danger of terrorism. The spreading war with Iran significantly elevates the regime’s threat to people at home and abroad, meaning that the FBI must return its focus to its core work: protecting the public from terrorist and cyberattacks and halting foreign intelligence operations and espionage.
Even before the war, Iran posed a serious threat. It is the world’s most prolific state sponsor of terrorism and, through its proxies and its own direct recruitment abroad, is culpable for the deaths of hundreds of Americans. It supported Hezbollah when it killed 241 US service members with a powerful car bomb in Beirut in 1983. In 1996, it was responsible for an attack in Saudi Arabia that murdered 19 service members. And in recent years, it has increasingly targeted people at home, using its own direct network controlled by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the external operations branch of the ayatollah’s powerful military force.
In one case, the IRGC planned to kidnap a US citizen of Iranian origin who publicly opposed the Iranian government — only to hire Russian mobsters to try to murder her instead. After the FBI arrested the mobsters, an IRGC asset hired local operatives who stalked her for months, until the FBI arrested them, too. The IRGC had tasked that same asset with concocting a plan to assassinate Trump.
Iran also poses a cyber-threat. Hackers affiliated with the IRGC have successfully attacked US water and wastewater systems facilities, disabled bank websites, and prevented customers from accessing their online accounts. Those financial attacks collectively cost businesses millions of pounds to neutralise the threat and mitigate the consequences.
Against that backdrop, the current sophomoric leadership of the FBI is concerning. Patel’s rushed judgements and prolific social media posts undercut the bureau’s professionalism. He hastily posted misleading tweets about investigations into Charlie Kirk’s murder and the Brown University shooting. He mischaracterised Alex Pretti’s actions before his fatal shooting in Minneapolis and claimed, falsely, that Pretti had violated Minnesota’s gun laws. He has frolicked at the Olympics, formed a nonsensical partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and consistently engaged in combative behaviour during congressional testimony — moves that suggest his focus is not on the most pressing threats this country faces.
Patel’s retaliatory firings are particularly harmful now. Dismissing personnel out of spite, for no valid reason, makes the US less safe — especially when some of those fired employees were steeped in the sort of counter-intelligence work that prevents Iranian attacks. Patel is fond of saying that his goal is to let “good cops be cops.” In leading the FBI, his job is to let good special agents be special agents. The bureau’s personnel deserve strong, knowledgeable, engaged leadership. They must be allowed to protect the public and uphold the Constitution, and that starts with our national security. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another September 11 to snap the FBI’s leadership into action.
Maguire served in many leadership roles in the FBI, including as special agent in charge of the New York criminal division
THE NEW YORK TIMES