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BRAND NEW BREAKING NEWS. MISS NOW HAS JUST LEARNED THAT FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL MAY BE OUT OF A JOB IN THE COMING MONTHS.
THREE PEOPLE WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE SITUATION SAY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS TOP AIDES HAVE GROWN TIRED OF PATEL AND THE UNFLATTERING HEADLINES HE'S BEEN GENERATING RECENTLY, INCLUDING USING A GOVERNMENT JET TO VISIT HIS GIRLFRIEND AND ENLISTING A SWAT TEAM AS HER SECURITY DETAIL.
JOINING US NOW, JUSTICE AND INTELLIGENCE REPORTER KEN DILIAN AND MISS NOW WHITE HOUSE REPORTER LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ. BOTH BOTH OF THEM BROKE THIS STORY ALONG WITH CAROL LEONNIG. KEN, GIVE ME MORE.
>> WELL, KATIE, I SHOULD SAY, FIRST OF ALL, ALL THE QUALIFIERS APPLY HERE WITH DONALD TRUMP AND PERSONNEL DECISIONS. YOU NEVER ACTUALLY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON. BUT WE ARE BEING TOLD THAT KASH PATEL, THE FBI DIRECTOR, IS ON INCREASINGLY THIN ICE, AND THE PRESIDENT IS CONSIDERING REPLACING HIM BY THE END OF THE YEAR WITH ANDREW BAILEY, THE FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MISSOURI, WHO IS ACTING NOW AS DEPUTY FBI DIRECTOR, ALONG WITH DAN BONGINO. AND IT'S FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT YOU JUST SAID AND OTHERS, THE USE OF TAXPAYER RESOURCES, THE FLYING HIS GIRLFRIEND AROUND ON THE FBI JET, BUT ALSO THE PREMATURE TWEETS, INCLUDING RELATED TO THE CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSINATION AND OTHER INVESTIGATIONS, THAT TERRORIST ATTACK IN MICHIGAN, WHERE PATEL GOT OUT IN FRONT OF THE INVESTIGATION AND TWEETED ABOUT THE ARREST BEFORE THE REST OF THE GOVERNMENT WAS READY FOR THAT TO HAPPEN. SO PAM BONDI AND TODD BLANCH OF THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAVE BEEN ANNOYED WITH PATEL FOR A LONG TIME, ALTHOUGH THEY'VE PUBLICLY DENIED IT WHEN HERS HAVE REPORTED IT. AND NOW IT'S INCREASINGLY CLEAR THAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS AS WELL. NOW, OUR REPORTING THIS MAY ACTUALLY ENHANCE HIS JOB SECURITY, RIGHT? SO SO IT'S HARD TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. BUT THAT IS THE REPORTING AT THIS HOUR, KATIE.
>> YEAH. NO, WE HAVE SEEN SITUATIONS WHERE WHEN IT COMES OUT THAT SOMEBODY IS BEING CONSIDERED FOR REMOVAL IN ORDER TO PROVE THAT THE, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT DONALD TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ANY CHAOS IN HIS, ON HIS TEAM OR IN HIS CABINET HAS COME OUT AND SAID, NO, OF COURSE NOT. I'M NOT I'M NOT CONSIDERING ANYTHING. LET ME PLAY THE PRESIDENT A LITTLE BIT EARLIER TODAY, TALKING ABOUT KASH PATEL DURING THEURKEY. PARDON.
>> FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL, WHO HAS BEEN VERY BUSY IN DOING A GREAT JOB ALSO THANK YOU.
>> KASH DIDWAS THAT SCRIPTED? WAS THAT WAS THAT ALWAYS INTENDED TO BE THERE OR WAS HE RESPONDING TO A QUESTION? LAURA.
>> LOOK, I WILL SAY THAT RIGHT BEFORE WE WENT OUT THERE FOR THAT TURKEY. PARDON. I HAD ASKED THE WHITE HOUSE FOR COMMENT ON THIS STORY. AND SO BECAUSE SOURCES HAD BEEN TELLING ME THOSE THAT WERE TALKING TO CAROL AND KEN WERE ALSO TELLING US THAT ESSENTIALLY THIS OUSTER COULD BE CLOSER THAN EVER. AND PART THAT IS BECAUSE ANDREW BAILEY WOULD NOW BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT ROLE AFTER REACHING THIS 90 DAY REQUIREMENT FOR BEING IN THAT POSITION. AND SO THE WHITE HOUSE HAD RESPONDED TO ME RIGHT BEFORE THIS EVENT STARTED. WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON ABIGAIL JACKSON NOT DENYING IT OUTRIGHT, NOT SAYING NOT CALLING THIS FALSE, BUT SHE DID SAY THAT THE FBI DIRECTOR PATEL IS A CRITICAL MEMBER OF THE PRESIDENT'S TEAM AND THAT HE'S WORKING TIRELESSLY TO ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF THE FBI. THAT'S WHAT ABIGAIL JACKSON, THE WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN, SAID. AND THEN AFTER THAT, I WENT OUT THERE FOR THE TURKEY PARDON INTO THE ROSE GARDEN. AND I THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT SAID, THANKED HIM AND SAID THAT HE WAS DOING A GREAT JOB. AND THEN THERE WAS SOME CLAPPING AND THE PRESIDENT SAID, SEE, KASH, YOU HAVE A FOLLOWING. SO WAS IT SCRIPTED? THAT'S THE TIMING WHEN IT HAPPENED. BUT THIS APPEARS CLOSER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN BEFORE BECAUSE OF COURSE, SOURCES CLOSE TO THE WHITE HOUSE HAVE HAVE TOLD ME THAT THEY'VE DEFINITELY HEARD GRUMBLINGS ABOUT PATEL FOR ALL THE REASONS THAT KEN LAID OUT. BUT IS TIME AROUND, MORE BECAUSE OF THE BACK TO BACK BAD HEADLINES ABOUT PATEL'S USE OF GOVERNMENT RESOURCES SEEMS TO REALLY BE PUSHING THOSE AROUND THE PRESIDENT AND ALLIES TO THE EDGE WHEN IT COMES TO PATEL. KATIE.
>> WHAT'S INTERESTING, KEN, IS IF WE THINK ABOUT THE FIRST ADMINISTRATION AND WHEN CABINET MEMBERS HAVE BEEN HAD BEEN OUSTED, A LOT OF THEM HAD BEEN ACCUSED OF MISHANDLING OR MISUSING GOVERNMENT FUNDS, MISUSING GOVERNMENT PLANES, A VEION OF CORRUPTION. AND I GUESS THIS WOULD THIS WOULD FA INTO THE SAME CATEGORY. IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SWAT TEAM AND THE USING THE PRIVATE JET, AT THE VERY LEAST, JUST A MISUSE OR AN UNSEEMLY USE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY.
>> YES. AND THE SWAT TEAM REFERENCE, JUST TO MAKE SURE OUR VIEWERS UNDERSTAND, IS GOES BACK TO OUR REPORTING THAT MEMBERS OF THE SWAT TEAM IN NASHVILLE HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED AS A SECURITY DETAIL FOR KASH PATEL'S COUNTRY SINGER GIRLFRIEND, WHO LIVES IN NASHVILLE. AND THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS REPORTED THAT OTHER SWAT DETAILS FROM OTHER CITIES HAVE ALSO BEEN ENLISTED IN THAT CAUSE. WHAT'S ALSO INTERESTING, AND YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, KATIE, THAT THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, DONALD TRUMP HAS A TRACK RECORD OF LOOKING ON WITH DISTASTE AND DISDAIN. BUT WHAT'S ALSO INTERESTING IS THAT KASH PATEL IS UNDER FIRE FROM MAGA ACTIVISTS FOR THINGS THAT PROBABLY OUR VIEWERS ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO. THERE'S A THERE'S A SERIES OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES, FOR EXAMPLE, ABO THE JANUARY 6TH PIPE BOMBS. THAT CASE REMAINS UNSOLVED. A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE MAGA WORLD HAVE THESE UNFOUNDED BELIEFS THAT SOMEHOW THE GOVERNMENT WAS INVOLVED, THAT THE FBI IS COVERING UP, AND KASH PATEL AND DAN BONGINO HAVE NOT BEEN AS FORTHCOMING AS THESE PEOPLE WOULD LIKE ABOUT THAT CASE. SO THEY'RE MAD ABOUT THAT. THEY'RE ALSO THEY'RE ALSO ANGRY THE OTHER DAY WHEN THEY ESSENTIALLY LEAKED A STORY TO FOX NEWS OR DID AN INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS AND LAID OUT THEIR FINDINGS IN THE ASSASSINATION PLOT AGAINST DONALD TRUMP AND ESSENTIALLY SAID THE GUY ACTED ALONE. THERE WAS NO CONSPIRACY. THAT RUNS AGAINST A LOT OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES THAT ARE PERCOLATING IN MAGA WORLD RIGHT NOW. AND AND SO IT'S A REALLY INTERESTING DICHOTOMY YOU HAVE. SO EVERY CURRENT AND FORMER FBI AGENT I'VE EVER TALKED TO HAS ABSOLUTE DISDAIN FOR THE WAY KASH PATEL IS RUNNING THE BUREAU. BUT THEN YOU ALSO HAVE THE MAGA, RIGHT? THAT'S NOT HAPPY WITH KASH PATEL.
>> AND LAURA, WHO'S ANDREW BAILEY. GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE ON HIM.
>> WELL, ANDREW BAILEY AS AS KEN WAS LAYING OUT, USED TO BE THE MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL. HE WAS BROUGHT IN BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THOSE INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE, THOSE INSIDE THE FBI WERE NOT HAPPY, WHICH, AS KEN HAS DOCUMENTED VERY WELL, WERE NOT HAPPY WITH DAN BONGINO. AND BONGINO WAS VERY UPSET AND REBELLING A BIT OVER THE HANDLING OF THE JEFFREY EPSTEIN FILES OVER THE SUMMER. AND BAILEY WAS BROUGHT IN AS CO-DIRECTOR CO-DEPUTY DIRECTOR, EXCUSE ME, OF THE FBI, WHICH IS AS AS KEN WAS EXPLAINING THIS POSITION, THAT IS NOT NORMAL. HE'S SOMEONE ACCORDING TO SOURCES THAT I TALKED TO THIS WEEK, THAT SO FAR THE ADMINISTRATION SEEMS HAPPY WITH AND THAT THOSE AND THAT LAWMAKERS LIKE. AND SO GENERALLY SPEAKING, HE HASN'T REALLY RUFFLED ANY FEATHERS SO FAR WITH THOSE AROUND THE PRESIDENT AND WITH THOSE ACROSS THE ADMINISTRATION. KATIE.
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