Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, opened an investigation into FBI Director Kash Patel, alleging in a letter sent June 15, 2026 and announced the next day that Patel used the FBI's budget as a “personal slush fund” to pay more than $1 million in unlawful bonuses to loyalist agents. The recipients were agents on Patel's “Director's Advisory Team” and members of his personal security detail.
According to the letter, some agents received payments of nearly $8,000 every two-week pay period despite already earning at the top of the federal pay scale, with some loyalists getting five such payments in consecutive periods, totaling roughly $40,000 per agent. Raskin wrote that some payments “bounced back from exhausted accounts.” He gave Patel until June 29 to provide a full accounting of the payments, their recipients and any internal legal assessments. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment from MS NOW or The Guardian. Because Democrats are in the House minority, Raskin has no power to compel the bureau to produce the documents, The Guardian noted.
The “slush fund” framing is Raskin's; the documented allegation is that the bonus payments exceeded statutory caps. It follows other reporting on Patel's use of FBI resources, including personal trips on the bureau's jet (see Kash Patel Used an FBI Jet for 10+ Personal Trips Including the Milan Olympics, Where He Was Photographed With Beer in the Locker Room).
Correction (October 2, 2026): an earlier version of this entry said the FBI declined to comment. MS NOW and The Guardian reported that the FBI did not respond to requests for comment, and the entry now says so.