Jamie Raskin accused Kash Patel in kash patel fbi bonus allegations of directing more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded bonus payments to agents in Patel’s inner circle. In a 15 June letter, the Maryland representative said the payments appeared tied to a small group on the FBI director’s advisory team.
Raskin wrote that some agents received nearly $8,000 every two weeks, with at least five such payments in consecutive pay periods. He said that added up to close to $40,000 per person and asked, “Why are these agents receiving extra pay simply for doing their jobs?”
Raskin Letter To FBI
The House judiciary minority committee said it received information that FBI reserve accounts set aside for bonus payments were drained dry. It said some payments bounced back after the accounts were exhausted. Raskin wrote that the letter sought to find out precisely how much “slush fund largess” Patel had put on the American taxpayer’s tab.
The main beneficiaries, according to Raskin, were agents serving on Patel’s director’s advisory team. The team was created in 2025 and was tasked with examining internal documents and government materials to expose and discredit federal law enforcement officials who had investigated Trump and his allies.
Director’s Advisory Team
Raskin said the payments raised questions about whether agents were being compensated for work beyond their duties. He also asked, “Are they, in fact, collecting bonus compensation for engaging in actions outside of their duties and outside of the law?”
Notus reported in May that the team had been referred to internally as a payback squad and was tasked with building politically motivated cases, including one modeled on the indictment of James Comey. Raskin’s letter also raised the possibility that payments to agents on Patel’s personal security detail were intended to keep witnesses to Patel’s private conduct silent.
Patel And The Payments
The letter cited reporting from The Atlantic alleging Patel had displayed erratic behavior and excessive drinking, and it noted that agents on the protective detail had accompanied him on personal outings. Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and reporter Sarah Fitzpatrick.
Patel told Democratic senators on 12 May, “I can tell you unequivocally this FBI is targeting and investigating no journalists.” Raskin’s letter also catalogued firings including former acting director Brian Driscoll, Steven Jensen, and a dozen counterintelligence agents. The next step is likely to come through the bureau’s response to Raskin’s allegations, after his letter pressed the FBI director for answers on the bonus payments and the reserve accounts behind them.
