Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, sent a letter on Tuesday to FBI Director Kash Patel, demanding answers regarding allegations he's using a "slush fund" to pay out allies.
"We have been receiving troubling reports that you may be using part of the budget of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a personal slush fund to make tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in unlawful 'bonus' payments to loyalist MAGA henchmen who have engaged in misconduct," begins the letter, adding:
We write to find out precisely how much slush fund largess you have put on the American taxpayer's tab. According to information received by the House Committee on the Judiciary, your office has issued more than $1 million in awards to special agents serving on your "Director's Advisory Team" —a curated group of agents who are willing to carry out your unlawful partisan and personal orders—and special agents on your security detail, circumventing the mandatory maximum pay caps established by statute.
Raskin goes on to suggest that Patel's payouts may be illegal.