FBI thwarted 1,100 potential attackers in 18 months, Kash Patel tells Senate

The Federal Bureau of Investigation prevented 1,100 people from carrying out terrorist attacks in the United States and arrested 4,260 individuals linked to foreign terrorist organisations over the past 18 months, FBI Director Kash Patel has told lawmakers.

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing, Patel said arrests involving affiliates of foreign terrorist organisations had risen by 38 per cent compared with the preceding 18-month period.

He highlighted several recent operations, including the arrest of eight extremists who allegedly planned to target elected representatives, military personnel and civilians at an event near the White House.

Patel also referred to the arrest of five suspects from three states in connection with what he described as the “Pumpkin Day plot” in Michigan. The group had allegedly intended to carry out a bombing.

The FBI prevented four separate terrorist attacks in California, Texas, North Carolina and Pennsylvania during December last year, he said. The agency also recently arrested a suspect accused of planning an Islamic State-inspired attack in Pittsburgh.

“These attacks did not happen because the FBI and our partners worked around the clock, found the threats, and stopped them,” Patel told the committee.

He said the bureau had expanded its collection of biometric intelligence through partnerships with foreign governments. The information includes facial recognition records, iris scans and other identifying details used to detect suspected threats before they enter the US.

The agency had also widened its use of artificial intelligence to process data, analyse intelligence and share information with local law enforcement bodies, Patel said. The number of FBI test cases involving AI had increased from two to 140 since he assumed office.

Patel added that the agency had cleared a backlog of 1.8 million DNA samples at its laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.

Greater direct engagement with overseas law enforcement agencies had led to the transfer of 86 suspects into US custody and the extradition of another 157, according to the FBI director. Those returned for prosecution included alleged violent offenders, terrorists, narcotics traffickers, gang members and child predators, he said.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley cited FBI data indicating that overall criminal arrests had increased by 80 per cent during Patel’s tenure, while arrests related to violent crime had risen by 90 per cent. He praised bureau personnel for their efforts against violent criminals, human traffickers and child predators.

Democratic lawmakers, however, challenged Patel over his management of the agency. Senator Richard Durbin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, alleged that FBI resources were being directed towards President Donald Trump’s political priorities at the expense of other criminal and national security investigations.

Durbin accused Patel of reversing decades of modernisation and reform at the bureau and turning it into a political instrument against Trump’s opponents—an allegation made during the sharply divided hearing.

Patel is the first Indian-American to head the FBI. Counterterrorism, cybercrime and intelligence-sharing form important parts of India-US security cooperation, with agencies from both countries working together to address extremist networks, digital threats and transnational criminal activity.

With IANS inputs