FBI Director Kash Patel's Statistics Debunked on MSNBC: Claims Called 'Basically Bogus'

MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian and former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Feinberg appeared on the network on Thursday to fact-check several oft-cited statistics from FBI Director Kash Patel regarding his tenure leading the federal agency, labeling them as "basically bogus."

“It was remarkable to hear Kash Patel really lean into these stats, which our sources say are basically bogus,”

Dilanian, a Justice and Intelligence correspondent, said Thursday.

According to Dilanian’s sources, Patel’s claim that the FBI arrested twice as many violent felons in 2025 as it did under the Biden administration in 2024 is misleading. He explained that Patel altered FBI policy in 2025 to include arrests where FBI agents were present but other agencies made the actual arrest and led the investigation.

“Patel changed the policy so that the FBI began, in 2025, counting arrests where FBI agents were present but other agencies made the arrest and led the investigation,” Dilanian stated. “These stats do not reflect additional suspects being taken off the streets.”

Dilanian also highlighted concerns about the FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives list under Patel’s leadership.

“Patel often boasts that they’ve had a much greater success capturing these most wanted fugitives than during previous administrations,” Dilanian noted. “They’ve been placing fugitives on the list that they know are about to be captured. We looked at the numbers. Four out of six of the fugitives captured during Patel’s tenure were captured within a month of being placed on the list, two within a day, one within an hour in Mexico.”

“These stats just don’t add up, and Patel is claiming credit for things that really aren’t real,” Dilanian concluded.

Watch the full segment below:

Feinberg, a former FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge, echoed Dilanian’s findings and further criticized Patel’s FBI talking points.

“All they’ve done is enlarge the categories they’re counting and, at the risk of being overly blunt, take credit for things that state and local agencies are doing,” Feinberg said.

He also addressed Patel’s frequent references to a nationwide decline in the murder rate.

“The FBI director regularly talks about the lowering of the murder rate nationwide, as if that’s something he’s responsible for,” Feinberg noted.

“A lot of other former agents can’t understand why nobody has pointed out to him in public that murder, generally speaking, is not a federal crime. The FBI has very little responsibility or impact on the federal murder rate,” Feinberg explained.

He warned that Patel’s alleged manipulation of statistics could harm the FBI’s reputation.

“Every time Patel gets caught fudging the truth, it diminishes law enforcement’s reputation writ large, and whenever that reputation is diminished, people, witnesses, victims, cooperators, become less likely to help out with investigations and operations,” Feinberg cautioned. “You’re not going to risk yourself for somebody who you can’t trust to tell the truth.”