WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel is hinting that Miami could be one of the cities to see a surge in federal law enforcement as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on crime.
“We did it in DC, we’re doing it in Memphis, we’re going to Chicago, Miami, St. Louis, so many cities across the country,” Patel said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday.
The statement came as Patel answered questions from Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Florida, who asked whether the FBI was working to support local departments struggling without help from “mayors and prosecutors and city councils and governors.”
The FBI told Local 10 News they have no details to provide at this time.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, issued a statement, saying in part: “This should be a message to every single soft-on-crime governor and mayor across the country that if they won’t keep their cities safe, President Trump will.”
The comments came during an hours-long hearing on Capitol Hill, where Democrats grilled Patel on his leadership of the FBI and high-profile investigations, including the Charlie Kirk murder and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Lawmakers also pressed Patel on whether veteran agents were fired for political reasons.
“Did you, in whole or in part, terminate anyone at the FBI because they worked on the Trump investigation or because they worked on Jan. 6?” asked Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California.
Patel responded: “No one at the FBI has been terminated for case assignments alone.”
As for Miami, a spokesperson for Scott told Local 10 the senator has not been notified of any such plans to mobilize more federal law enforcement to South Florida.
The White House has also not responded to questions about Patel’s comments.
One area of agreement did emerge during the contentious hearing: Patel and top Democrats said more must be done to hold social media companies accountable for harmful content and illegal activity on their platforms, particularly when it comes to internet-based crimes against children.
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