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Ranking Members Himes, Raskin Urge Kash Patel to Abandon Russia Trip Hosted By Putin’s Security Service Amid Espionage Concerns

FBI Director’s Planned Visit with Putin’s Security Service Raises Serious Alarms Over Russian Espionage and FBI Intelligence Sharing

Washington, October 9, 2026

Washington, D.C. (October 9, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, are urging Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel to cancel his reported trip to Russia next month, raising urgent national security concerns about his plans to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg as the FBI expands cooperation with Russian and Chinese law enforcement agencies. Patel will reportedly be hosted by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, which has a documented history of conducting espionage operations against American officials and personnel.

“Winston Churchill described Russia as ‘a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.’ Now, we have a puzzle buried in a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside that enigma: Why is the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) visiting a hostile foreign power that has been committing war crimes, conducting influence operations against U.S. elections, conducting malicious cyberattacks against our critical infrastructure, and helping our adversaries target and kill American soldiers?” wrote the Ranking Members. “In the interest of national security, we ask you to reconsider. Call off this trip.”

The trip comes amid reports that Patel is personally leading an initiative to forge closer ties between the FBI and Russian and Chinese law enforcement agencies, including personnel exchanges and intelligence sharing. While the Administration strikes a big anti-China pose, Patel has reportedly already provided Chinese officials unprecedented access to American intelligence personnel, diplomatic personnel, government facilities and contractors, despite longstanding warnings that foreign intelligence services will exploit such access to conduct espionage.

The timing raises additional concerns. In the last two weeks, President Trump signed sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s economy over its war against Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia continues to conduct espionage and cyberattacks against the United States and its allies, and has reportedly provided Iran with intelligence to help refine aerial attacks on American troops in the Middle East. DOJ also recently revealed a Russian intelligence-linked murder-for-hire plot targeting a prominent Russian dissident in Washington, D.C.

Patel’s hosts are no ordinary law enforcement partners. Russia’s FSB has a documented history of surveilling American officials, planting recording devices and conducting honey trap operations targeting U.S. personnel. Compounding these concerns, Patel received $25,000 for participating in a documentary produced by a filmmaker with Kremlin ties, in which he openly dismissed U.S. intelligence assessments of Russian election interference and claimed Moscow was not among America’s “true enemies.”

The Ranking Members are calling on Patel to cancel his trip and, if he insists on proceeding, are requesting a closed-door briefing on the FBI’s expanding cooperation with foreign adversaries and the security precautions surrounding his odd visit. The briefing must address the FBI’s efforts to increase cooperation with Russia, China and other designated foreign entities; any internal concerns or objections to those efforts; who proposed the trip and why; Patel’s complete itinerary, planned meetings and traveling companions; and precautions to protect against Russian espionage, including technological safeguards, and additional counterintelligence measures.

Click here to read the letter.