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The Hoover building, which began construction in the 1960s and was completed in 1975, has long been a subject of ridicule. Even former President Donald Trump has previously called out the site’s poor condition and hinted at redevelopment. Earlier this year, he floated the idea of constructing a new facility on the same land, saying, “We’re going to build another big FBI building right where it is, which would have been the right place, because the FBI and the DOJ have to be near each other.”
Still, with no word on a temporary headquarters, speculation continues to swirl about where the relocated agents will be housed in the short term.
Patel revealed that roughly one-third of the FBI’s workforce is located within a 50-mile radius of D.C., but that concentration doesn’t reflect the distribution of crime across the country.
“Look, the FBI is 38,000 when we are fully manned, which we are not. In the national capital region, in the 50-mile radius around Washington, DC, there were 11,000 FBI employees. That’s like a third of the workforce. A third of the crime doesn’t happen here,” he explained.
“So we are taking 1,500 of those folks and moving them out. Every state is getting a plus-up. And I think when we do things like that, we inspire folks in America to become intel analysts and agents and say we want to work at the FBI because we want to fight violent crime and we want to be sent out into the country to do it,” Patel continued. “In the next 3, 6, 9 months we’re going to be doing that hard.”
This sweeping decentralization comes as the FBI finds itself once again in the national spotlight, following a firestorm surrounding former FBI Director James Comey.
Patel confirmed in a social media post on Thursday that the Bureau is actively cooperating with the Secret Service in reviewing a controversial and now-deleted post made by Comey. The ex-director shared a photo of seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47,” a message that many interpreted as a veiled threat toward President Trump, the 47th president.
“We are aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump. We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support,” Patel tweeted.
Comey later tried to downplay the incident, saying in a follow-up post, “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” But Trump wasn’t buying the excuse.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant? That meant assassination,” Trump told Fox News. “He wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant.”
Even Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem weighed in on the controversy, posting, “DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard didn’t mince words either, stating that Comey’s message was a threat that “should land him in jail.”
Between a controversial online threat from a disgraced former director and the relocation of over a thousand FBI staffers, it’s clear that Director Patel is ushering in a new era of accountability, decentralization, and law enforcement refocus. Washington may be losing its grip on the FBI — and the rest of America may be better off for it.
