FBI Director Kash Patel has dispelled the CNN-created “fake news” report about a “major cutback” of agents at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Patel was forced to issue a memo after the network published a report on Saturday with the erroneous information, Fox News reported.
The report claimed that Patel “had outlined plans to move as many as 1,000 ATF agents to the FBI.”
The fabricated “news” story added that the FBI chief would be “cutting ATF’s agents by more than a third.”
CNN cited three anonymous sources who allegedly shared this information.
The left-leaning network explained that the ATF is unpopular with Second Amendment advocates and has been in the “crosshairs of gun rights groups” for some time.
“The ATF has about 2,600 agents and more than 5,000 employees, a number that has remained largely unchanged for years,” the report said.
CNN later added that it was forced to roll back the information after “pushback,” which is also known as the truth.
“After the publication of this story and resulting pushback, including from Republican allies, FBI officials began to back off aspects of their plan, according to a US official familiar with the matter,” CNN’s report clarified.
Patel issued the memo to ATF personnel that was later shared with Fox News Digital.
“I want to address a report from this weekend speculating about the intentions of FBI leadership with personnel decisions at the ATF,” Patel wrote.
“This weekend, CNN reported news of a plan on the part of our leadership to ‘cut as many as one third’ of ATF agents and reallocate 1,000 agents over to the FBI.
“The report even suggested our leadership team altered course after reading a news report, and ultimately backed off certain aspects of changes,” the memo went on.
“This ‘report’ is entirely false,” he added.
“The fake news will NEVER be responsible for operational command authority over the ATF – we are,” Patel continued.
“The brave men and women of the ATF who courageously dedicate themselves to protecting the American public will not have their security jeopardized by the media’s disinformation campaigns.
“When we make decisions, they will be final, regardless of the input of CNN or any other news organization,” Patel added.
This news comes a month after President Donald Trump charged Patel with fixing the problems at the weaponized FBI.
He’s also serving as the acting director of the ATF and would be within his rights to make personnel changes to the agency, though it appears it was never true.
Patel has infamously sparred with the media as he fearlessly defended himself against their attacks.
He was sworn in as FBI director on Feb. 21 and had strong words for his detractors in the press.
“You have written everything you possibly can about me that’s fake, malicious, slanderous, and defamatory. Keep it coming,” Patel said at the time.
“Bring it on, but leave the men and women of the FBI out of it. They deserve better,” Patel challenged the media.
The clip was shared widely on X, including by conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
WATCH:
🔥BANG! Kash Patel sends DIRECT message to the Fake News:
“You’ve written EVERYTHING you possibly can about me that’s fake, malicious, slanderous, and defamatory. Keep it coming. Bring it on. But leave the men and women of the FBI out of it.”
pic.twitter.com/UoC1n79AzD— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 21, 2025
The media is in full attack mode with Trump once again in the White House.
It’s clear that CNN and the rest of the Democrats’ allies in the corporate media are all too willing to promote whatever unreliable information best suits their narrative, whether it’s true or not.
READ MORE – ‘FBI Working Around the Clock’ to Release Epstein Files After Push from Patel & Bongino
