FBI Director Kash Patel Details Agency’s Violent Crime Crackdown, Fraud Fight
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel detailed the agency’s major victories in combating violent crime, as well as the Trump administration’s aggressive pursuit of fraud, during an interview with Breitbart News Saturday.
Patel pointed out that President Donald Trump’s “back-door” attitude, combined with putting officers on the ground and prioritizing partnerships with local sheriff’s offices and departments, has encouraged law enforcement across the country to pursue justice more forcefully. Matthew Boyle, Breitbart DC bureau chief, highlighted the lowest murder rate in 125 years in major US cities, as well as a 200% increase in the number of FBI arrests in 2025.
“First and foremost, you need a commander in chief who supports blue — and that’s what we have with President Trump. He’s provided us with the resources and given us the mandate to throw off the bureaucratic handcuffs and let good cops be cops,” Patel told Boyle. “And that’s what we did. I took a thousand agents who were stationed in the National Capital Region last year, which is the Washington, D.C. area, and moved them into the field permanently. That meant every state in the country got a surge of federal law enforcement personnel from the FBI to go out there and crush violent crime and defend the homeland.”
“That’s why we saw a 112 percent increase in violent crime arrests by the FBI alone year over year. But as you pointed out, homicide rates fell 20 points and robbery rates also fell 20 points – both historic lows. That’s the way you do it: You leave the agents on the ground. You give them the support they need on the ground, not the bureaucracy in Washington, and that’s how you get things done. that’s how you go out there and capture seven of the world’s “10 most wanted fugitives” in 13 months.
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The show of support for law enforcement — compared to the soft-on-crime Biden administration — can be seen in a decrease in line-of-duty deaths, as well as an increase in arrests for assaults on federal officers, Patel said, after Boyle highlighted a 17 percent reduction in line-of-duty deaths among police officers year-over-year, from 64 in the final year of the Biden presidency to 53 in 2025.
Patel called the decrease “tremendous,” but added that “one line-of-duty death is one death too many.”
“Police officers and sheriff’s departments across the country say they have never felt more support from the FBI than since President Trump returned to office,” he said. “And I think that’s a green light for officers to work with the federal government and make sure that they know that we’re going to protect them as much as possible when we ask them to go out there and do this dangerous job.
Asked about the tripling of arrests for assaults on federal officers, Patel said anyone who obstructs or hits a law enforcement officer “is I will face the full force of the police.
“The FBI is going to support our law enforcement partners across this country, and any criminal who is willing to engage or thinks he or she may engage and strike or strike or obstruct law enforcement will face the full force of law enforcement. And that’s why the number of arrests is up,” Patel said. “We’re not saying you can’t go out and peacefully protest. We’re just saying you hit a police officer in the exercise of their lawful duties – you can’t stop them from lawfully carrying out their lawful duties.”
Earlier this year, Boyle reported that the FBI made 67,000 arrests in 2025 – specifically from January 20, 2025 to January 20, 2026 – compared to just 22,500 in 2024, or between January 20, 2024 and January 20, 2025. Patel said this shocking increase shows that “crime was out of control under the previous administration “.
READ MORE: Exclusive – FBI Arrests Increased Nearly 200% in 2025
“Because for us, for the FBI to have to do this much work in a single year, America should never be subjected to this kind of security crisis,” he said, adding that the Trump administration’s pro-law enforcement policies have allowed the FBI to “dismantle 1,800 criminal gangs – a 210% increase … and recover enough fentanyl to kill 178 million Americans – a 31% increase.” from one year to the next.
“These are violent criminals. They seek to harm our children, our youth and our communities… Online Predators: We have seen a 500% increase in arrests of nihilistic violent extremists who wish to harm our children online. Our agents are more motivated than ever and they are catching criminals, not just on the streets, but in cyberspace, and not just in the United States, but abroad,” he said. “We have seen a 43% increase in arrests of espionage actors from Iran, China, Russia and other countries. [North Korea]. So the FBI is fully equipped on a global scale, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s why the numbers have increased so much: because the Biden administration has let in tons of criminals and has been very lax in fighting crime, which we don’t embrace.”
Patel also discussed the FBI’s ruthless pursuit of criminals on the agency’s “most wanted” list under President Trump.
“Just to put this in perspective, President Biden and his FBI have delisted four of the FBI’s “Top 10 Most Wanted” fugitives in four years. We’re up to seven in 13 months, and it’s the worst of the worst,” Patel said. “We’re talking about gang members, we’re talking about child rapists, we’re talking about murderers, we’re talking about drug traffickers like Ryan Wedding, the Canadian Olympic snowboarder, who we went to Mexico and literally picked up and captured.”
“What this shows America is how powerful and endless the search will be. These seven individuals have been on the run for 60 years collectively, 60 collective yearsand we have them all,” he continued. “And we’re not done. We’re going to keep reloading this list and we’re going to get everyone back.
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A top priority is combating the widespread abuse of taxpayer dollars through massive fraud schemes, an initiative overseen by Vice President JD Vance. Boyle highlighted the suspension of 221 hospice and home care providers in California and several arrests for more than $50 million in fraud last week.
“It’s a great move by the vice president, and the FBI led the arrests that you just talked about in California with a $50 million fraud last weekend. Last summer, I was in Minnesota when the FBI was able to arrest, I think, 55 people responsible for the Feeding Our Future fraud – a $250 million fraud scheme,” Patel said.
“What we’re doing with President Trump’s leadership and JD Vance’s leadership on this task force is the FBI is prioritizing fraud investigations across the country. Because any type of government corruption and fraud is too much, and it’s robbing the American people of precious treasures,” he added. “So we have hundreds of investigations going on, and we’re not going to stop because someone becomes a target and it’s an elected official or a private citizen. It doesn’t matter to us.”
“I think in the very near future, now that we have the AAG [Assistant Attorney General] “Because of the fraud in place, you’re going to start seeing a lot of fraud arrests by this FBI – way more than we’ve been making,” he continued.
Patel said any American can help fight crime by reporting information to 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).
“No tip is too small, and the American public, from me as director of the FBI to you, we are very grateful for the tips you send us and the information you send us. It helps us solve cases every day, so keep doing it. You are an invaluable partner,” he said.
Patel also broke his silence on President Trump’s decision Thursday to replace Pam Bondi as attorney general with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting attorney general.
“I think Attorney General Pam Bondi has done a great job leading the fight against crime across the country,” he said. “Like anything else in Washington, D.C., we are here to serve at the pleasure of the President. We will continue to give him everything we have, and I have confidence in the team moving forward.”
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
