Patel blasts Biden’s ’emblematic failure’ after Afghan national charged in guard shooting
FBI Director Kash Patel blasted the Biden administration’s “emblematic failure” in light of the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., on “The Ingraham Angle.”
The Justice Department on Tuesday formally charged Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal with four counts, including murder.
“The problem with this case shows the emblematic failure of the Biden administration to vet anyone who came here from Afghanistan after the disastrous withdrawal,” Patel told Fox News host Laura Ingraham Tuesday.
One of the victims, 24-year-old U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, remains hospitalized after a fellow West Virginia National Guard soldier, 20-year-old U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, died from her injuries.
Lakanwal is being treated at a hospital and held under guard, according to the Justice Department. A D.C. Superior Court judge said he will be held in custody without bond.
The developments come as critics accuse the Biden administration of forgoing in-depth vetting for Afghan refugees after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
According to Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General report from Sept. 6, 2022, “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not always have critical data to properly screen, vet, or inspect the [Afghan] evacuees.”
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Meanwhile, Patel maintained that where and how Lakanwal was “radicalized” remains an “ongoing piece” of his agency’s investigation, addressing where it stands.
“This is a sprawling international terrorism investigation that the FBI is leading out on,” Patel said.
“I’ve already issued dozens of pieces of legal processes, dozens of devices, already hit two houses and interviewed many individuals associated with the subject, and that investigation is going to continue on to anyone and everyone this person ever spoke to,” Patel continued. “We are not going to leave any stone unturned.”
The FBI director later vowed to vet “every single person that came in here — legally or illegally or otherwise — and make sure there is no derogatory or criminal information or terrorist ties.”
Similarly, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced an “overhauling” of the vetting process for illegal migrants on Monday.
“We are requiring the country of origin to cross-reference biometric data and criminal history, expanding our vetting to include social media screening, and directing individuals to check-in every year,” Noem wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Ingraham separately touched on the Epstein files, asking Patel why it took the agency as long as it did to release them.
“This FBI has produced 40,000 pages of documents to Congress,” he said.
“We’re putting out as much as we can that is lawful and that is not prohibited by court orders. And those are the things the DOJ is fighting still with judges in court to make sure we can reveal everything without breaking the law, and that’s what we’re committed to doing.”
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