Who is James Comey? Kash Patel launches probe against ex FBI boss accused of using ‘honeypot’ op against Trump campaign

Kash Patel, the new boss of the FBI, garnered severe criticism from Democrats over his “list of enemies” before his Senate confirmation. After taking the oath of office as director of the FBI, Patel described his opportunity to head the top federal law enforcement organisation in the country as the “greatest honor” of his life.

Following his takeover, the FBI has launched a probe against ex FBI director James Comey, who according to a whistleblower allegedly employed female “honeypot” agents to infiltrate the Trump campaign.

According to Kerry Picket of the Washington Times, an agency whistleblower disclosed the scheme's specifics and charged Comey with conducting an illegal investigation of Trump's campaign in 2015.

The Times reports that in 2024, the House Judiciary Committee received a protected disclosure that included details of the operation.

A honeypot is a term used in the intelligence field to describe an undercover agent, typically a woman, who poses as someone who is interested in them romantically or sexually in order to gather information from them.

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What to know about ‘honeypots’ used to target Trump's campaign

Two female FBI undercover agents, according to the whistleblower, were instructed to serve as “honeypots” while accompanying Trump and his campaign officials throughout their high-level infiltration of his 2016 campaign.

According to The Times, the bureau is searching for a former undercover who served under Comey's direction.

As per the whistleblower, the inquiry was distinct from Crossfire Hurricane, a subsequent FBI counterintelligence probe that examined unsubstantiated claims that the campaign was engaging in collusion with Russia, Times reported.

Why was the undercover operation terminated?

The FBI opened Crossfire Hurricane after Trump started his presidential campaign in June 2015.

The revelation claims that the whistleblower agent “personally knew” that Comey “personally directed” and approved an FBI inquiry into Trump.

The probe seemed more like a fishing expedition to unearth something damaging against Trump.

The undercover operation was concealed from Justice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, who looked into wrongdoing during the bureau's investigation into the Trump campaign, according to the whistleblower.

In the end, the operation was terminated because a key newspaper obtained a picture of one of the undercover agents and was going to publish it. However, the FBI press office informed the outlet that the picture was of an FBI informant who would be assassinated if it was made public.