Kash Patel Discovers Secret FBI Cache of Classified ‘Burn Bags’
FBI Director Kash Patel has reportedly uncovered a hidden stash of “burn bags”—containers meant for destroying classified materials—inside a concealed room within FBI headquarters. Among the items was a 29-page secret appendix to Special Counsel John Durham’s 2023 report on the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation, which had never been intended for public release.
Sources say the documents date back to the 2016 Crossfire Hurricane probe, the FBI’s investigation into alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia. Fox News Digital was the first to report on the discovery, while the New York Post confirmed the existence of the secret FBI room where the classified materials were found.
It’s unclear whether the materials were overlooked or deliberately kept from destruction. The classified appendix is now being reviewed for declassification and is expected to be turned over to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley for potential public release. No date has been set.
Reportedly, the annex contains intelligence that foreign agencies warned the U.S. the FBI might be promoting a false Trump-Kremlin collusion narrative—even before the investigation began.
A high-level team is reviewing the documents with Patel, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and acting NSA Director William Hartman.
Former President Donald Trump responded to the discovery, saying:
“I want everything to be shown… as long as it’s fair and reasonable.”
The original Crossfire Hurricane probe led to the Mueller investigation, which found contacts between Trump allies and Russians but no evidence of criminal conspiracy. Later, Durham concluded the FBI lacked justification for launching the investigation at all.
Patel, who spearheaded the 2017 House Intelligence Committee’s probe with Rep. Devin Nunes, previewed the find last month on the Joe Rogan podcast:
“I found a room in the Hoover Building—kept hidden by James Comey and others—full of files and hard drives no one outside the bureau even knew existed.”
Adding to the controversy, DNI Tulsi Gabbard recently released documents alleging a “treasonous conspiracy” by Obama-era officials to discredit Trump before his inauguration. According to Gabbard, internal Obama administration documents originally stated Russia had not influenced the 2016 election—until the FBI under Comey intervened.
In response, former CIA Director John Brennan and ex-DNI James Clapper dismissed Gabbard’s claims in a New York Times op-ed, calling them “patently false.”
They acknowledged Russia hadn’t tampered with vote counts but insisted that Moscow did sway U.S. public opinion in 2016.
“The real politicization,” they argued, “is the manipulation of intelligence by Trump-appointed officials who were supposed to remain apolitical.”
