FBI Director Kash Patel has presented evidence to Congress alleging that former FBI Director Christopher Wray concealed proof of Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential election, according to exclusive reporting by the Daily Mail.
Patel detailed how the FBI headquarters recalled an Internal Intelligence Report produced by the Albany, New York, field office that contradicted Wray’s congressional testimony about Chinese foreign influence campaigns. The report was published and then withdrawn without justification, sources said.
The FBI was investigating claims about Chinese Communist Party-produced driver’s licenses being used to obtain paper ballots when the Albany office published the IRR on June 17. FBI headquarters then instructed the office to pull the report and pretend it did not exist.
Current FBI officials discovered the suppressed report while reviewing actions of former leadership. They found correspondence indicating the IRR was taken down because officials admitted the reporting would contradict Director Wray’s testimony.
During a Senate hearing in September 2020, Wray was asked by Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan whether mail-in voting was secure. Wray responded that the FBI took all election threats seriously and had not seen any coordinated national voter fraud effort in primary elections, whether by mail or otherwise.
Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote to Patel on June 17, requesting more information about the concealed report to better understand the decision behind rescinding it. Patel’s response detailed how his FBI found evidence that the IRR was suppressed to protect Wray from contradictory testimony.
According to sources familiar with the investigation, the Chinese Communist Party used access to TikTok social media accounts to create fraudulent driver’s licenses in an effort to obtain fraudulent ballots during the 2020 presidential election.
Patel indicated that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force did not approve the reissuance of the IRR after it was pulled and confirmed by investigators. He stated that his team found no information indicating the task force properly investigated the reported information or followed logical investigative leads, despite corroborating intergovernmental reporting.
In a joint statement with Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Patel indicated that previous FBI leadership chose to play politics and withhold key information from the American people, exposing the weaponization of law enforcement for political purposes during the height of the 2020 election season. They emphasized their commitment to aggressive transparency and working to restore the FBI to a trusted institution.
The allegations come as Patel has faced scrutiny for his past claims and conduct. Mother Jones recently criticized Patel’s statements about the Trump-Russia investigation, arguing that he presented false narratives during a podcast appearance with Joe Rogan.
Patel previously gained prominence as a Republican congressional staff member on the House Intelligence Committee in 2018 by criticizing FBI applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to wiretap former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page during the Russia investigation. He wrote what became known as the Nunes Memo, detailing alleged Justice Department errors in obtaining surveillance warrants.
Critics have questioned Patel’s qualifications and motivations. In December 2024, a dozen current and former Justice Department, FBI, and intelligence officials expressed fears to NBC News that Patel would use his power to criminally investigate Trump’s perceived adversaries if confirmed as FBI director.
The appointment has drawn attention to Patel’s past statements about targeting media members and government officials. During a December 2023 interview with Steve Bannon, Patel indicated plans to pursue individuals in the media whom he claimed had helped rig presidential elections, stating that they would be pursued either criminally or civilly.
Patel has also taken significant administrative actions since becoming the FBI director. In May 2025, he disbanded the FBI’s Office of Internal Auditing, a unit established in 2020 by then-Attorney General William Barr to scrutinize the misuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The Guardian reported that the office was established to investigate surveillance law abuses during Trump’s first term.
The office was created following an inspector general’s report in 2019 that revealed concerns about the FBI’s Russia investigation. Barr established the unit to ensure faithful compliance with laws, policies, and procedures governing FBI activities, particularly in national security matters.
Patel’s background includes serving as a federal public defender in Florida, a prosecutor for the Justice Department, and a congressional staffer. He worked in the White House as a senior director for counterterrorism before serving as chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller during the final months of Trump’s first administration.
Democrats have largely avoided directly engaging with Kash Patel’s specific allegations about Chinese interference in the 2020 election, instead focusing their criticism on his overall fitness to serve as FBI Director.
Election law expert Rick Hasen told NBC News that Patel’s claims represent “an uncorroborated story of unknown origin with no evidence that anything actually happened, and certainly no evidence that any ballots were cast or illegal voters were even registered to vote using state identifications.”
A former senior FBI official suggested that Patel share “the information with both Republicans and Democrats so there can be a balanced look and heal the country instead of causing more distrust and discontent playing into the hands of our foreign enemies.”
Rather than issuing formal rebuttals to the Chinese interference allegations, Democratic leaders like Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin have concentrated their opposition on broader concerns about Patel’s qualifications, calling him “dangerous, inexperienced, and dishonest” and arguing he “has neither the experience, the judgment, nor the temperament to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Media outlets aligned with Democratic perspectives have characterized Patel’s claims as “conspiracy theories” and part of a “cottage industry” of election fraud allegations, while MSNBC described the Chinese interference allegations as a “weird new 2020 election conspiracy theory.”
This strategic approach suggests Democrats view Patel’s claims as politically motivated rather than serious intelligence matters requiring detailed substantive responses.
