FBI-Approved Manuscript Supports Patel Benghazi Narrative

In Patel’s recent book, “Government Gangsters,” Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s current FBI Director nominee, claims he played a rather significant role in Benghazi prosecutions.

The New York Times and other publications claimed he exaggerated his claims, backed by statements by other FBI and DOJ officials, yet an FBI-approved manuscript backed up Patel.

Patel’s Claims

In his book, Patel outlines that it was a “dream job” for a “young and ambitious lawyer.”

Patel goes on to claim that when the DOJ was pursuing the primary bad actors in the September 11, 2012, attack at the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, “I was leading the prosecution’s efforts at Main Justice in Washington, DC.”

Patel also wrote, “Despite the fact that we had reams of evidence against dozens of terrorists in the Benghazi attack, Eric Holder’s Justice Department decided to only prosecute one of the attackers.”

Patel was interviewed about the prosecutions, and he explained, “And the basic general response from the F.B.I. and D.O.J. leadership was ‘it’s only politically convenient to get one guy.’”

New York Times Refutes Patel Claims

On December 13, 2024, The New York Times published a piece to go after Patel, headlined, “Patel Distorts Justice Dept. Benghazi Inquiry, Inflating His Role.”

As is usually the case these days, most of the sources for the article were anonymous. So, even if the writer has two or three sources to verify the initial quotes, if they are all working together but nobody gives their name, it gets printed because, technically, they have double- and triple-verified the source quote.

The Times, in its report, even covers this, stating, “But [Patel] has both exaggerated his own importance and misleadingly distorted the department’s broader effort, according to public documents and interviews with several current and former law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.”

The piece goes on to question Patel’s role, as well as the efforts of the DOJ to prosecute those responsible. In all honestly, it is a very convincing article, but, at least to some degree, that article had some holes poked in it by a new book coming out that the FBI fact-checkers and screeners have already approved.

The Book

Retired FBI Special Agent Michael Clarke wrote the new book, but it has not yet been published. However, some details in the book counter what the Times had reported.

Clarke outlines the frustration that was being experienced by law enforcement officials, particularly in the lack of pursuit of some of the bad actors. This included then-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe not approving a memo that would have allowed the Pentagon to execute a plan to capture some of the key suspects in the Benghazi attack.

In one instance, Clarke wrote, “The Benghazi Team should focus strictly on the upcoming trial of Khatallah and stop looking at capture options. ‘It was politics.’”

The book far from vindicates Patel on all claims, more specifically on what his role was at the time. However, the more serious of these allegations made by Patel was how the DOJ and FBI were limiting prosecutions, and the book blows the claims made by the Times piece out of the water. More importantly, unlike the Times piece, Clarke is on the record, and the book was approved by the FBI. Of course, when Just the News reached out for comment, the Times was silent.