The Truth with Lisa BootheThe Truth with Lisa Boothe: From Chaos to Clarity: Fixing the FBI from Within with Nicole Parker
In this episode, Lisa interviews former FBI special agent & FOX News analyst, Nicole Parker about the significant reforms being implemented at the FBI under Director Kash Patel. They discuss the agency's shift in focus back to core missions like combating violent crime and terrorism, the controversies surrounding agents' conduct during protests, and the importance of accountability within the organization. Parker emphasizes the need for transparency and the protection of vulnerable populations, particularly children, from online predators. The Truth with Lisa Boothe is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Tuesday & Thursday.
Welcome to the Truth with Lisa Booth, where we try to cut through all of the noise and get to the heart of the issues that matter to you.
So today we've got Nicole Parker on the show.
She's a former FBI special agent, she's been on the show before. She's a friend of mine, a colleague from Fox News, but she's got a front row seat to the inner workings of one of America's most critical institutions, the FBI. We're going to dive into some of these seismic changes and shake ups that are happening at the FBI under Director Cash Patel, from the reassignment of agents that have been tied to the politically charged cases, to this big restructuring of the agency's command, and also just a renewed focus on things that the FBI should care about, like terrorism, actual terrorism, and violent crime. We're also going to get into recent news about this seven sixty four network that's been targeting kids online.
What's that about.
Also, what does she think about all of these reforms that Patel is conducting.
Are they the right move?
And we'll also talk about those agents who are photographed kneeling during the twenty twenty George Floyd protests, So buggle up for a candid conversation as we unpack all of this with Nicole Parker.
Stay tuned well, Nicole, it's great to have you on the show.
Always love but when I get to see you and being able to connect with you, so I really appreciate you making the time.
It's my pleasure. I always lets to join you.
So, I know you've been very passionate about winning reforms at the FBI and making that known in a really bold and brave way. How is the FBI doing so far under a cash Patel? You know, how would you assess sort of his first one hundred plus days so far or however long it's been since he was confirmed.
I don't know.
I should have done the math, but you know what I mean, Yeah.
Yeah, it's a little lesson one hundred days, but yeah, yeah, yeah, something like that.
But you know, right exactly. So, I think that Cash Mattel is a brought to fresh air and for those of those of us the FBI that really just wanted to come and serve with honor and put bad folks behind bars, uphold the constitution, protect the American people. I mean, his Mantra is letting good cops be good cops, and frankly, that's what the FBI should be doing. And I love seeing what he's doing because that's exactly what is happening. And I left the FBI, uh the latter end close to the end of twenty twenty two, and it was under the Biden administration. I had worked under three different administrations, and it was just such a stark contrast to go from you know, one administration where President Trump was very much focused on fighting violent crime, and then to go into the Biden administration, which was very much focused on January sixth and going after quote unquote domestic terrorism and going after conservatives, and the list goes on and on. Yet the FBI at the same time turning a blind eye towards crimes that were being committed by those on the you know, more liberal and progressive end of the spectrum, and the Biden family in particular. So to see Cash Betel come in and to say, look, the political weaponization of the FBI is over is very refreshing. And I do think that he's made some bold moves when he initially came in those on the seventh floor, he basically cleaned house of the senior level executives on the seventh floor of the Hoover Building at the FBI headquarters. And I don't think the reform stops there. I've talked about it many times. The FBI leadership is just the beginning. Unfortunately, a lot of the issues start at the top, but they trickle down all the way through the organization, all the way down to you know, those in the field agents support staff. And so I think what they're doing is looking at each individual field office, looking at the special agents in charge of each of those field offices. And I think, frankly, Lisa, a lot of these people that are not on board with the new administration and the way the FBI should be functioning. I think a lot of them are just retiring. If they're eligible to retire, they're retiring. And I don't think that's a bad thing, because that way, you're automatically cleaning house by those that don't want to, you know, get on board. No problem. You're eligible to retire, is time for you to go. And so I think Americans expect to see change so quickly and drastically, and we have to remember that this problem didn't start overnight, and solving it is not going to happen overnight. But what I've seen Cash Betel doing at the direction and instruction as well under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi and ultimately under the leadership of President Trump, I have to say, I think they're doing an outstanding job well.
And to that point, you know, as you can pointed out, they've pushed out some of the more senior agents and senior officials. They're also reassigning agents, and they've resigned some agents who were photographed kneeling with demonstrators during the twenty twenty protests after George Floyd's death. They are also reviewing the conduct of more than fifteen hundred agents associated with some of the more politically motivated cases.
What do you think about those moves?
And then also what do you think their process is when they're going through those fifteen hundred agents to decide if they should be reassigned or.
Pushed out.
Okay, so, first of all, you bring up a very valid and important point. The story that came out I believe CNN broke it actually last week is that there were members of the FBI Special Agents and it was on June fourth, at twenty twenty, and they were seen kneeling to George George Floyd protesters in Washington, d C. And what they did was wrong. These are FBI agents in their ballistic vests clearly marked with FBI at THEI. Agents current and retired were appalled by what happened on June fourth of twenty twenty. We were absolutely shocked. But what I've said before is that there really are two fbis. There were individuals that were appalled and shocked by that behavior of those agents that not to the protesters June fourth of twenty twenty. And yet as we see with what just occurred with these reassignments and emotions of those individuals, there were current and retired agents that were disgusted that these individuals were demoted. So there really is a push and pull inside the FBI. Some people praised the kneeling of the protesters, others were disgusted by the kneeling of the agents to the protesters. And so it highlights what I believe is an underlying issue at the FBI. There really are two fbis, and one to cash Bettel's really big jobs is going to be to make it one FBI. But going back to the kneelers, what they did was clearly wrong, and they're clearly marked at the iballistic vests, and it appeared they were supporting the cause of the George Floyd protesters. And like it is never appropriate to make any political or social statement on FBI time and FBI gear, and especially in public, and the FBI is supposed to remain politically and socially neutral, and just like wearing a Trump shirt while working on FBI time is entirely inappropriate. You have your First Amendment rights, you have your rights to your opinions, but when you are an FBI special agent who has been charged with enforcing the law, you have to leave those political and social opinions at the door. And unfortunately, what I witnessed under the last several years, prior to Trump coming in again as president, under the Biden administration, particularly the FBI, political and social weaponization was at an all time high. And so these protesters claim that they were in fear for their lives, they were in fear of violence breaking out, and in my opinion, I saw no signs of violence or anyone being in eminent danger of death or serious physical injury. In fact, I saw agents that were clapping and we're smiling at the protesters, and those are definitely not science of dress or stress. And so we are highly trained in the FBI to defend ourselves against violence in violence situations, we are not trained to nil. That is not what we are trained to do. And so FBI one agents people that are trying to do the right thing. At the FBI. We were certain, We're like, these agents are going to get reprimanded, they're probably going to get fired, and we were shocked. Not only did that not happen, Lisa, they got promotions to some of the most highly sought after positions at the FBI, and the FBI Agents Association actually offered them one hundred dollars gift cards for the stress that they had to go through that day. And I can tell you right now, I've worked some very high stress situations and I was never offered a one hundred dollars gift card. And so that's just a slice of what was going on at the FBI under the last administration and under the leadership of Christopher Ray. So those are that's just one blatant example of political and social weaponization and so I do agree when cash is coming in Director Patel and saying, look, that should not be rewarded. And those individuals were reassigned and demoted. Obviously, the FBI doesn't give an official statement on it because they don't discuss personnel matters, but they did there were individuals that came out and spoke about that.
How do you Okay, So I get to senior officials and the people calling them shots, right, because they're the decision makers, right, and they're making bad decisions, then you know they should be cut loose or I never reassigned sometimes that they can't fire people or whatever.
But for the fifteen hundred.
Asians the looking at, I guess, how do you decide between like, were they just doing their jobs because that's what they were asked to do working at the FBI, or are they to blame?
Right?
Like, I guess, how do you figure that out? If this is an excuse that it's just their job.
I don't know. I'm just trying to think through it.
Right, And that's a logical question to ask, And I agree with you one hundred percent. You know, well, what is the what are they looking at? And I think what the media is reporting what's actually happening internally at the FBI, or sometimes very two different things. But I do think that there are individuals who are not in leadership roles at the FBI who have done the wrong thing and they basically use their law enforcement power to push their political and social agendas. And trust me, there are ways for the new FBI director to find that out. And I think it's a lot about motive and intent. Right, there were a lot of agents that said, you know, several agents, thousands of FBI employees were assigned to work January sixth investigations. And I can tell you that I personally know people that did not want to do that, and they did it because they were told that they had to, and they you know, while I'm doing what I'm told to do, I also know agents and support staff that were told to do it and they said, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do that. And so I think it really has to do with a lot of times in life, and especially at the FBI, what is your motive? Are you salivating at the chance to go after Trump supporters? Because I can tell you there were individuals at the FBI that literally were that's what they you know, they had no problem doing that, and there were others that were more resistant, and so they're going to have to look at the individuals on a case by case basis. I'm not sure what their criteria is or what they're looking at, and I'm not sure what their overall plan is, but I'm telling you it starts at the top. And so I think that's what they're initially trying to do, is toart with the leadership and see who is where and what needs to change. And I have no doubt in my mind though, that there will be accountability and that there will be tangible consequences for those who have not done the right thing as they have served in the FBI. There has to be an order to gain the trust of the American people, there has to be consequences. And you know, we talked about another case, the twenty seventeen shooting at the baseball game. Right we'll see if Scalie almost died, that's serious. And and it just came out and they've reviewed and cash Pateel director Patel released you know, the file, and there's there's proof that that was a boshed investigation.
And so just real quick for the audience.
So the House Republicans, because of information that records released to Congress by Cash Patel in March, the House Republican and have revisited the twenty seventeen congressional baseball shooting. They put out a report from the House Intelligence Committee, and basically the FBI initially tried to characterize the intentional shooting, the intentional assassination of House Republicans as a suicide by cop mission by the Bernie Sanders supporter instead of what we know it to be, which was an act of terrorism, basically a politically motivated active terrorism to kill Republicans.
Correct and for an FBI agent to not be able to see that and to call it what it is, there needs to be accountability. Granted that was in twenty seventeen. I couldn't tell you who worked that investigation, what their status is with the FBI, of their current employees that they retired years ago, I don't know. But that is the type of thing that destroys the trust of the American people, and there has to be accountability and consequences. And one thing I deeply respect about this new administration and about what Director Patel is doing, is he's transparent. You're seeing more things released. This was back in twenty seventeen, it is now twenty twenty five. Why did it take them so long to release this? Right, A lot of documents are classified. The FBI has a lot of classified information. Well, they do that for several reasons. Sometimes it's fully justified that it's classified. But I personally believe many things are overclassified in an effort to keep it within the agency. Right, and so I have a huge amount of respect for what Director Patel is doing. He's going in there and he's saying, Look, we need to gain the trust of the American people. Let's be transparent, let's be honest, let's learn from our past mistakes, let's have accountability, and let's move forward. But let's get back to what Americans actually care about. Okay, the fact that they focused on January sixth predominantly misdemeanors for four years, Well, there were violent criminals pouring into our country across the border, and there are people who have been murdered. That's Americans want to feel safe, and that's what this FBI is going to be about, making America safe again. But again, we cannot, we cannot forget what happened, and there has to be consequences, but we've got to look forward and take care of making America safe again.
Well, and tash Fattel made.
That point during his confirmation hearing, which I thought was really great to hear.
He so that his objective is that, you know, the hundred thousand.
Rapes in this country in the next year, or to make sure that you know when you're looking at like thee hundred thousand rapes that we saw, or the one hundred thousand drug overdoses from Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroine in seventeen thousand homicides, that his goal is to look to try to you know, cut those in half, to diminish those, to get back to the basics, as you pointed out, of what the FBI is supposed to be about, the real core mission of the FBI, and you know, to get away from all the politics.
Right correct, foreign terrorist organization groups, that's FBI's primary responsibility, you know, foreign and domestic terrorism. But in the last administration, the definition of domestic terrorism doesn't exactly match what the true you know, definition of domestic terrorism is. Going after school board parents, you know, going after Catholics. That's not what the FBI's focus should be. So foreign terrorist organization groups, terrorism in general, foreign and domestic, obviously, counterintelligence espionage. There are some major threats coming from China, Russia. These are things that the FBI is entrusted to investigate and to protect us from. And additionally, you have all the criminal matters. Okay, so you've got the terrorism side of the house, counterintelligence side of the house, and the criminal side of the house. All of those together have to be investigated. And so the use of you know, valuable resources at the bureau, we have to make sure that we're prioritizing what truly matters most and protecting our country. And I can tell you what they did for the last four years, and focusing on January sixth misdemeanors, in my opinion, was a blatant misuse of FBI resources. And now Cash Betel is getting the FBI back on track with Dan Bongino and all of the other leadership that they're appointing, and they're looking at the true threats facing Americans and I respect that, and as an agent who worked violent crime, that's a serious problem in our country, and especially violent crimes against children.
Well, I also think that you know, they put us at risk. To your point, because if you're focused on going after grandma who's spent two seconds in you know, the capital and didn't cause any harm to anyone, It didn't cause any injury to anyone, that means you're not going after like a terrorist, or you're not going after a child molester.
Or you're not going after you know.
It's like you're missing the big fish and an effort to catch like.
Someone who probably shouldn't even be rested to begin with. You know. So it's like, so that made us less safe. We've gotten more with th Nicole.
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Too about the way the FBI is traditionally structured and then this desire for reform from cash Hotel to sort of decentralize the command structure, to you know, reorganize the FBI into like three regional divisions, and to kind of like what do you make of that desire to decentralize, What do you think that would mean for the FBI?
And how do you see that.
Okay, So, first of all, I think a lot of the problems from the FBI again FBI two, it's what I refer to it the political and social weaponization. Those that are not doing the right thing. I think a lot of them do STEM and the nucleus has traditionally been in the Washing area, either at headquarters or Washington Field office, and so I think what his goal is to there are way too many people in Washington, DC and the headquarters division. Okay, what is asking and changing is decentralizing a lot of that and sending a lot of those agents that are in positions that I would say almost administrative. I call them paper pushers. Sometimes they're not actually working cases and investigations that are protecting and saving the American people. They're up at headquarters doing administrative work. Okay, that's not really what Americans need right now. So I love the idea that Director Patel is sending agents from headquarters in DC and saying no, you're going back to the field. And that's all going to come into effect, I believe, you know, in the next couple of months. We're talking a lot of people that have been a FBI headquarters in Washington d C on what we call temporary duty assignments TV wise, typically they're about eighteen months, and he's saying, a lot of you are now going back to the field offices because that's actually where the crimes are committed, and that's where they need the agents is working actual investigations, because investigations are what cause people to agents and conduct investigations. That's when you're putting the handcuffs on people and they're going behind bars. That's what actually makes America safe, not pushing paper up at DC. And so I love that that's what he's doing, and so decentralizing a lot of it and getting bodies out of DC. Unfortunately, a lot of the deep rat is so intertwined in that inner belt way of DC, and by moving bodies out, I think it really will assist in decentralizing the problems of the FBI and breaking it up and getting people back into the field doing work and putting it into the different components of like the three different regions. I think it's something that they should definitely continue to pursue. Let's see how it works. But what they're doing right now and what Christopher Ray had been doing in Jim comey, it wasn't working, it wasn't successful, and the FBI became completely politically and socially weaponized under that structure. And so I like that he's taking a fresh look and trying to see how can we really create true reform and so again taking these tdy assignments, putting agents back into the field where they're actually working cases. I think that's a huge, a huge bonus in a great move for the FBI.
So it's the report of this week that the FBI is investigating this what they call sophisticated criminal network targeting kids and online in teens online known as seven sixty four, and the predators are known for targeting miners on social media, using corrosion to get them to film themselves becoming violent acts or sexual act or violence or sexual acts, and then using those videos to extort minors for more violence and sexual videos that are then shared with the seven hundred and sixty four.
That's what the group called the group of followers.
So they're investigating at least two hundred and fifty subjects who are tied to this online network.
Have you heard of this online network before?
Does anything stand out to you about you know, hearing about this network called seven sixty four.
Yes, so first of all, yes, this is something that the FBI has been looking into and will continue to look into. There are some very dark, evil things that the FBI investigates, and in my opinion, the violent crimes against children, that's what this you know violation would fall under the crimes against children. To me, it is the darkest work that FBI agents do. And children are the most vulnerable members of our society. And unfortunately, there are some evil, sick monsters out there who are violating our children and are doing evil and disgusting things to our children. And like I said, they are the most vulnerable. They don't have things to defend themselves. They are moldable, they are you know they do it's online predators. It is so imperative that parents are aware of what their children are doing online. Who are they communicating with, how are they being attacked online? A lot of this is happening and parents don't even know. I've I've worked on VCAC squads, I've worked recruiting sources for crimes against children. It is very very dark, and I can tell you that this administration is going to be more committed to protecting our children, probably than any other administration. I know Attorney General Pam Bondi is all hands on deck. I know at the I, Director Cash Betel, all hands on deck. And frankly, the work that those agents are doing, it is exhausting. They are swamped. It is overwhelming. And this is an example of how I would like to see personally resources that may have been dedicated towards January sixth and shifting it over to protecting and saving our children. These are complicated and sophisticated cases. They are very dangerous, Lisa, I know I've talked to you about it before. My best friend in the FBI, special agent Laura Schwarzenberger shot and killed the morning of February second, of twenty twenty one, and she was executing a search warrant against a child predator. Okay, this is serious. These criminals are the most dangerous. They know that they're going away for a very long time because when you go to jail for a crime like that, like Pam Bombi has promised today, this administration is not going to go easy on these people, and you're potentially looking at life. I've worked investigations for crimes against children I worked one in particular. Off the top of my head, the guy got four life sentences. That's more than some people get for, you know, killing someone, and so it's serious. But what they're doing to your child is even more serious. And the way that they manipulate and hurt children is inexcusable. And we must treat this and execute and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. They must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And so I love that the FBI was participating with DOJ and they came in and executed these arrests of a couple hundred people. That's huge, and that is a wake up called the American people. Director Patel means business. Attorney General Pambondi means business. And they are not going to back down. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather be hearing about children being protected than Grandma's getting arrested for going inside the capital with their camera or their phone. That's what the FBI needs to be doing, and that's what you can expect to see more of. And that's what's going to regain the trust of the American people.
We've got to take a quick commercial break, but we've got more with Nicole Parker.
On the other side.
If you like what you're hearing, please share the podcast with your friends, with your family, share it on social media, Stay tuned. And there's been criticism from the right about with the Attorney General, Pam Bondie and Cash Hotel for not releasing things like the Epstein files, of you know, wanting more information, of wanting that transparency. The Attorney General said that the FBI is going through the Epstein files, that there are tens of thousands of videos of Epstein with children or child porn and hundreds of victims, and the FBI is going through all that. Will we get that information about Jeffrey Epstein and who was involved?
Do you think that information will ever come delight?
What I believe is if Pam Bondi says she's going to do something, she is going to do it. And my understanding is that they're working on it right now at the FBI. And there are very important rules and laws and protections that a lot of people may not be aware of. But as a victim of a crime, you have rights, and when you are a juvenile also known as a minor, we protect them and those victims, they must be protected. Their identities have to be protected, their information has to be protected, and that's how it should be, and that's what Americas should want. We do not want to exploit any of these victims. They've already been horrified enough that they had to live through this, and so a lot of time it takes to go through and make sure that anything that refers to a victim has to be redacted, any of the information about them, their age, you know, all of that sort of information has to be redacted. We've got images, videos, child porn. I mean, it is a lot of information that they're having to go through. So it takes time, and I know that's not what people want to hear, but it's got to be done right, and that's out of respect for the victims.
Makes sense, No, cool Parker. Great to have you on, my friend.
I appreciate you bring us some insight into some of the FBI developments and would love to have you back on and hope to see you soon.
My pleasure. And again, I'm very hopeful and I think amazing things are in store for our country and I think the FBI is getting back on track.
Well, your hopefulness makes me more hopeful.
All right, I appreciate it, all right, thank you my friend, take care right bybye. Those in a cool Parker appreciate her for making the time to come on the show. Appreciate you guys at home for listening every Tuesday and Thursday.
But of course you can listen throughout the week until next time.
