FOIA Records Appear To Reveal Kash Patel’s Priority Is Tracking Down His Critics

Records appear to reveal that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel has made tracking down his critics a priority.

The FOIA records appear to show Patel directing his team on Feb. 5 to identify social media accounts criticizing him and respond to them.

The directive was contained in a text exchange between Patel and the FBI’s assistant director for public affairs, included in the latest tranche of records released by the government as part of its review of materials related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (RELATED: ‘Not Going To Take This Laying Down’: Kash Patel Announces Move Against Media Hit Piece)

In the exchange, Patel appeared focused on the reach of posts criticizing him and shared an account with his public affairs assistant director (AD) to examine. The aide characterized the account as an “‘Epstein didn’t kill himself bot account,’” while offering Patel an explanation: “if you are wondering where it’s coming from.”

Patel pushed back on the suggestion that the engagement was largely bot-generated, arguing that the account’s reach represented genuine attention. “277k responses are not bots,” Patel wrote.

He then reminded the aide that he had specifically instructed his team to identify the accounts behind the criticism and engage with them by highlighting the FBI’s accomplishments. “What I asked you and your team to do is find them, and post our record year results back at them all, continuously,” Patel wrote, before asking whether the aide had “been doing that.”

The aide appeared to distinguish between the number of responses and the post’s overall visibility, explaining that the engagement Patel cited did not necessarily translate into meaningful reach. “That’s views - it’s 400 responses; a real visible tweet gets 5x that,” the aide wrote. (RELATED:EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Has Been Hobbling New Mexico’s Epstein Ranch Investigation For Years, Former AG Says)

The exchange also included discussion of whether responding directly to certain accounts could create a negative impression of Patel. At one point, an aide warned that responding to an account called “RetardFinder” would “look bad” on the FBI director.

Patel then clarified his reasoning, writing, “it’s not about them, it is about the number of views, because people see it and need to be seeing our stats.”

The exchange comes as Patel and the FBI have faced scrutiny over their handling of the Epstein files and the bureau’s investigation into the convicted sex offender.

During a September 2025 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy questioned Patel about whether Epstein had trafficked women to anyone other than himself. (RELATED: Kash Patel Says There Is ‘No Credible’ Proof Epstein Trafficked Women To Anyone But Himself)

Kennedy noted that Patel had reviewed most of the Epstein files and pressed him on whether the records contained evidence of other individuals receiving trafficking victims.

Patel said the information available to the FBI was “limited,” but told Kennedy there was “no credible information” indicating Epstein had trafficked women to anyone besides himself.

The Daily Caller reached out to the FBI for comment, and the bureau replied that it had no comment.