Instead of focusing on lawfare intended to target political opponents as it did under James Comey and Christopher Wray, Patel’s FBI is ensuring the agency fulfills its core responsibility… protecting the American people.
In an appearance on Sean Hannity’s podcast, “Hang Out with Sean Hannity,” Patel informed the host that the FBI foiled four major terrorist plots over the Christmas holiday season, but warned that the agency’s work is not done, Fox News Digital reports.
“I can tell the American public, just look at the month of December alone last year,” Patel said. “We stopped four terrorist attacks in four weeks during the holidays.
"Everything from the ‘Pumpkin Day’ plot all the way through the attacks that were going to happen in Texas, Florida, and New York–we stopped them all," Patel told Hannity.
The “Pumpkin Day” plot was an ISIS-inspired terror attack that would have carried out a massacre in a Detroit suburb. Two Michigan men used the code name “pumpkin” to discuss plans for a mass shooting.
The planned attacks in Texas, Florida, and New York were also thwarted by the FBI. Yet another ISIS-inspired plot in North Carolina was prevented by the FBI. That plan would have seen a North Carolina man use knives and hammers at a grocery store and fast food chain on New Year’s Eve.
Patel said safeguarding the United States keeps him "up at night."
"We are the folks that are responsible for safeguarding America," Patel said. "We’re doing everything we can to not miss anything."
dir="ltr">Patel said the agency is “always on the watch” for September 11-style attacks, and said after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, law enforcement agencies are looking for terror groups to “rejuvenate.”
“The thing about terrorists is they’re exceedingly patient,” Patel said.
To further the agency’s capabilities, Patel said the Trump administration is working to modernize the agency, with one facet being the use of artificial intelligence.
“AI was never used at the FBI until we got there. I’m using it everywhere,” Patel said, also highlighting its use in criminal justice databases to identify fingerprints and expedite arrests, as well as sifting through the massive data from the FBI tip line.
“Can you imagine how many tips the FBI gets a week? Thousands. If we had just humans look at it, we would never sift through them all,” Patel said.
“I put AI in there. We stopped a school massacre in North Carolina because we got a tip, and we were able to triage it with artificial intelligence,” he added.
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