The FBI has stopped analysts on Kash Patel's so-called enemy list after Patel told lawmakers that the bureau under his leadership would remain out of political conflict and would not punish employees for partisan reasons.
Last week, the department placed analyst Brian Orton on administrative leave, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The reason for the suspension remains unknown.
The FBI declined to comment. Orton's lawyer also declined to comment.
The halt could raise questions about whether the move is retaliatory and how closely Patel will stick to his promises at a January confirmation hearing.
Orton's suspension, which had already been disciplined and questioned in a criminal investigation, could intensify Patel's distrust among employees who have seen him being kicked out without explanation in recent months.
Orton has worked on two major investigations that angered Trump and Patel, including an FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. He was also involved in analyzing information found on Hunter Biden's laptop, a discovery he made during the 2020 presidential campaign.
Patel called the Russian investigation a hoax and picked Orton in his book, “The Government Gangsters.” In the book, Patel allegedly the FBI was trying to “hidden and spin” what was called “Biden family corruption” buried on laptops, even if agents investigate the issue.
“Government Gangsters” also included a list of 60 names in an appendix called “Members of the Deep State of the Enforcement Division.”
Mr. Auten was one of the names listed in the appendix. At his confirmation hearing, Patel denied it was a list of enemies.
“That's a complete misunderstanding,” he told the senator. He later added: “If the FBI has no retaliation measures obtained by the FBI, and if it is confirmed as the FBI's director, there will be no politicization.”
Auten's suspension comes after he and others were disciplined in the FBI application to a serious mistake due to a secret surveillance warrant involving a former Trump campaign adviser.
Orton played a key role in uncovering the key sources behind the rumoured documents and unproven claims about Trump. The monitoring warrant application was partially dependent on relevant documents that Auten had extensively reviewed.
People said Auten had been suspended for 30 days after a Russian investigation known as the Crossfire Hurricane. After Patel became director, Arten moved out of the anti-intellectual department, one of the people said.
In his book, Patel denounced Orton.
“But, like his boss, Auten faces no real accountability in light of these findings,” he wrote. “The fact that Auten was not fired by the FBI and charged his role in the Russian Gate conspiracy is a shame for the public.”
Justice Department inspectors found that there was good reason for FBI officials to open a Crossfire Hurricane and that they could not find any evidence that the investigation was politically motivated.
“We couldn't find any documentary or evidence of evidence that it had influenced political bias or inappropriate motivation,” the report said.
John H. Durham, a special adviser appointed by Trump to scrutinise the Russian investigation, said in his final report, “As a first issue, there is no doubt that there is a positive obligation to carefully examine the hints that encouraged the investigation by the FBI.”
However, Durham denounced the FBI for “confirmation bias.”
In 2020, the New York Post reported on a laptop that Biden once used, and wrote that it contained terrible evidence that he and his father, Joseph R. Biden Jr., were running for president.
In his book, Patel criticized Orton's role in the episode, claiming that he “sought to give credit by falsely claiming that none of the information about Hunter Biden was true.”
