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kash patel
White House Budget Details FBI Office Dedicated to Spying on Those Who Oppose Trump's 'Extremist Agenda'
"If your political views are practically anything other than MAGA, you’re on notice, courtesy of the FBI," said journalist Ken Klippenstein.
Apr 07, 2026
Along with cutting environmental, housing, and health programs and proposing an increase of nearly $500 billion in military spending, President Donald Trump's new budget proposal shows how the White House "wants to use taxpayer dollars to spy on those who oppose its extremist agenda," one Democratic congresswoman said Monday evening.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Penn.) was referring to the budget's description of a new FBI center that is already working to root out what the White House broadly defined as "domestic terrorism" in a federal memo last year.
As independent journalist Ken Klippenstein wrote this week, buried in Trump's budget request—which includes $12.5 billion for the FBI to invest in counterterrorism efforts and other spending—is the White House's latest assertion that "domestic terrorists... pose an elevated threat to the Homeland."
"In recent years, heinous assassinations and other acts of political violence in the United States have dramatically increased," reads the budget's section on domestic terrorism. "Commonly, this violent conduct relates to views associated with anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the US government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility to those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and mortality."
The views described echo National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), the memo signed last September that directed federal agencies to develop a national strategy to "investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence" in order to stop violent attacks before they happen.
But despite the administration's singular focus on groups and individuals who hold left-wing, anti-capitalism views and subscribe to belief systems other than Christianity, the National Institute of Justice found that since 1990, 227 attacks motivated by right-wing views killed 520 people, while far-left groups carried out 42 attacks that killed 78 people. The NIJ study was removed from the US Department of Justice website shortly after the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk—an event that Trump explicitly blamed on left-wing groups without evidence, and which came weeks before the signing of NSPM-7.
The budget proposal explains that as a result of NSPM-7, the FBI recently created the NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center (JMC), which is run by personnel from 10 federal agencies.
"The JMC is working to counter domestic terrorism and organized political violence by integrating intelligence operational support, and financial analysis to proactively identify networks and prosecute domestic terrorist and related criminal actors," reads the proposal.
Scanlon is one of a small number of elected Democrats who have spoken out about NSPM-7 in congressional hearings and media interviews.
"If anyone can be labeled a domestic terrorist for speech opposing this administration, our First Amendment rights are under grave threat," said Scanlon recently.
Klippenstein noted that the budget document describes social media platforms and encrypted communications apps as being used by "domestic terrorists" to "recruit new adherents, plan and rally support for in-person actions, and disseminate materials encouraging radicalization and mobilization to violence.”
FBI Director Kash Patel told Congress that anyone who used the Discord channels used by Tyler Robinson, who was accused of killing Kirk, would be investigated by the agency.
Klippenstein noted that the FBI's domestic terrorism watchlist, which as of last September listed about 5,000 US citizens, reportedly "is growing."
"If your political views are practically anything other than MAGA, you’re on notice, courtesy of the FBI," Klippenstein wrote.
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Whistleblower: Kash Patel's Use of FBI Jets for Personal Travel Delayed Murder Probe
"The FBI cannot afford to have its resources further stretched by a director who views its staff and aircraft as a means to support his jet-setting lifestyle."
Feb 24, 2026
A whistleblower is claiming that FBI Director Kash Patel's frequent use of one of the agency's two jets has led to the delay of a high-profile murder probe.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday revealed he had received new whistleblower disclosures related to his investigations into Patel's use of FBI aircraft for personal travel, and he said they showed Patel's decisions regarding the use of FBI planes had delayed investigations not only into the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk but also the November 2025 mass shooting at Brown University.
In the case of Kirk, Durbin said that the FBI shooting reconstruction team's deployment to Utah "was delayed by at least a day because of a bureau plane and pilot shortage caused by the director's personal flights."
Durbin said that he also received information showing how Patel bungled the aftermath of the Brown shooting by putting the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) on standby to respond to the incident.
"The director’s decision caused immediate confusion," Durbin said, "because that order was not communicated to HRT; it upended the responsibility typically assigned to the local field office closest to the incident in question—in this case Boston or New York City—to provide immediate support; and it froze the aircraft’s usage by any other FBI team until the director removed the hold."
Durbin then said that the whistleblower described how his team "had to drive from Quantico, Virginia to Providence, Rhode Island overnight during a winter storm to reach the scene by 9:00 am the following morning to immediately process evidence."
Durbin noted he received this information shortly after Patel was seen chugging down a beer in the locker room of the gold medal-winning US men's Olympic hockey team on Sunday, after the director once again used an FBI plane to fly to Milan, Italy.
The Democratic senator said that Patel's trip to Italy could have seriously hampered the FBI's ability to investigate what may have been an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump.
"It also cannot be ignored that the director’s latest personal jaunt occurred on the same weekend an armed intruder attempted to breach President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence," Durbin explained. "The man was allegedly carrying a gas can and a shotgun, and he was killed on the scene by law enforcement."
Durbin concluded by saying that "the FBI cannot afford to have its resources further stretched by a director who views its staff and aircraft as a means to support his jet-setting lifestyle."
MS NOW reported that an FBI spokesperson has "disputed" the whistleblower's claims that Patel's decisions had caused delays to investigations, but added that they need to "check into the matter more deeply to gather information."
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'Stop This Madness': 3 Killed in Mass Shooting at Rhode Island High School Hockey Game
"This is no way for our kids to live," said one gun control advocate.
Feb 16, 2026
Child safety advocates renewed calls for tighter gun control measures following a Monday mass shooting at a high school hockey game in Rhode Island that left three people including the gunman dead and three others injured.
WPRI reported that the father of a North Providence High School senior shot five members of his family at a hockey game at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket at around 2:30 pm local time. The student's mother was killed at the rink, while his sister died after being rushed to a local hospital. Three other relatives are reportedly in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital.
"We realized pretty quickly that it was a gunshot. It was very scary," hockey player Silas Core said during an interview with WCVB, adding that he and his teammates rushed into a locker room.
"We barricaded the locker room with our bodies. We were all pressing up against it," he said. "Everybody was, you know, worried about our parents and everybody."
Core's mother told WCVB that everything "just happened so fast."
"You don't even know. You know, you just see everybody else on the ground and you kind of get on the ground," she said. "This is really disturbing, you know? And it's the other team's senior day. Like, it was supposed to be a special day for the team."
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the shooting appeared to be “a family dispute," a “tragic” but "isolated" incident.
A woman who said she was the shooter's daughter told WCVB that the man suffered from mental health problems.
"He shot my family, and he's dead now," she said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the agency "will provide state and local law enforcement any and all resources necessary and keep the public updated as we are able."
"In the meantime," he added, "please pray for the victims and their families."
Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said that "as governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students, and everyone impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket."
McKee added that he is "praying for our communities."
Gun control advocates demanded more than the customary thoughts and prayers.
People in this country should be able to enjoy school athletics without the fear of being gunned down. When will enough be enough?
— Moms Demand Action (@momsdemandaction.org) February 16, 2026 at 2:29 PM
"As a native Rhode Islander who has played many games in that very rink, this tragedy hits especially close to home," Stop Gun Violence board chair Brian Lemek said. "That space holds memories of community, competition, and joy—and now it’s filled with pain no community should have to carry."
"The only thing young athletes should worry about is the scoreboard—not their safety," he continued. "Our kids deserve spaces that bring communities together, they deserve to be safe, and they deserve a future free from this constant fear."
"This is no way for our kids to live," Lemek added. "We need to stop this madness."
Monday's incident follows December's mass shooting at Brown University in Providence—which is less than 10 miles from Pawtucket—that left two people dead and nine others wounded.
"We can and should work together to promote responsible gun ownership and pass legislation like safe storage laws and red flag laws—widely supported measures that keep guns out of dangerous situations while respecting responsible ownership," Lemek asserted Monday.
"I’m holding the victims and their loved ones in my heart," he added, "and I’m more determined than ever to build a future where our kids are safe in the places meant for joy."
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