FBI Records Show Kash Patel Ordered Staff To Fight Epstein Criticism on X After Troll '@Ifindretards' Mocked Him

FBI Director Kash Patel ordered his public affairs staff to push the bureau's statistics at people criticising him over Jeffrey Epstein on X, only for his own spokesman to refuse after an anonymous troll mocked him, records show.

The extraordinary exchange took place on 5 February between Patel and Ben Williamson, the FBI's assistant director for public affairs, according to messages that surfaced in an FBI document release tied to the Epstein files.

At the centre of the argument was the X account @ifindretards, which had shared Patel's official portrait and mocked the FBI director as criticism surrounding the Epstein files continued to spread online.

Williamson described the account to his boss as an 'Epstein didn't kill himself' bot account. Patel still wanted the FBI to engage.

Patel Wanted FBI Stats Posted 'Continuously'

According to the messages, Patel pointed to what he believed were 277,000 responses to the post and argued that those users were not bots.

'What I asked you and your team to do is find them, and post our record year results back at them all, continuously,' Patel wrote, before asking whether his communications staff had followed his instructions.

They had not. Williamson corrected Patel on the engagement numbers, explaining that the 277,000 figure represented views, not replies. The post had received only around 400 responses. He then bluntly explained why the FBI's press team had not followed the order.

'We're not responding to 'ifindr------s.' That would look bad on you,' Williamson wrote, according to the records. Patel pushed back, saying the account's identity was beside the point.

He argued that hundreds of thousands of people had seen the post and should therefore also be seeing statistics highlighting the FBI's performance.

FBI Has Heavily Promoted Its 'Record' Results

The messages offer an unusual glimpse into Patel's concern with how criticism of his leadership was spreading on social media.

Under Patel, the FBI has repeatedly publicised statistics portraying his tenure as a period of historic law-enforcement success.

FBI data show violent crime nationwide fell 9.3 per cent in 2025, including an 18.1 per cent decline in murder and an 18.5 per cent drop in robbery. Patel has described the figures as evidence of the largest year-to-year reduction in violent crime since the FBI began producing national estimates.

At a Senate hearing in May, Patel also touted 45,000 violent-offender arrests, 2,450 gang disruptions and 6,900 child victims located as evidence that the FBI was delivering 'record' results.

The newly surfaced texts suggest Patel wanted those accomplishments posted directly into hostile conversations about him online.

Exchange Fuels Fresh Mockery

The revelation quickly generated ridicule, with critics questioning why the FBI director was personally focused on an anonymous social-media account.

Writer Josh Billinson joked that he initially assumed the messages would show Patel explaining the situation to a junior communications employee rather than directing the response himself.

Democratic strategist Jesse Lee went further, arguing the exchange raised questions about Patel's priorities as FBI director.

The episode comes as Patel continues to face scrutiny over the bureau's handling of records related to Epstein. Patel became the FBI's ninth director in February 2025.

But in this case, the most striking resistance to his social-media strategy appears to have come from inside his own press office: confronted with an order to argue with a troll, Williamson apparently decided that ignoring it would make his boss look better.