The Dispute Index

Christopher O'Leary

Christopher O'Leary is an American national security adviser and former FBI counterterrorism official. He led federal hostage recovery operations and has worked in private security consulting. He also provides television commentary on national security.

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What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Christopher O'Leary on Criminal Justice Policy, Law Enforcement, and Media. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Statements by Christopher O'Leary

Christopher O'Leary

Role at the time: Former senior FBI official and MS NOW contributor

Condemned

Response to this claim

The FBI's count of violent crime arrests under Kash Patel includes arrests made by state and local police and other federal agencies when an FBI employee was present, which the bureau did not count as its own before.

“Kash Patel is actively dismantling decades of statistical integrity just to feed a political narrative”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Crime stats touted by Kash Patel are bolstered by arrests made by state and local agencies, not FBI · MS NOWFull article
Why we used this label

The case asks whether the FBI's arrest figures under Patel count arrests made by other agencies. O'Leary says the bureau is taking credit for other agencies' arrests and criticizes Patel for it, so we used condemns.

Read statementMS NOW says the FBI's arrest count under Kash Patel includes arrests made by local police; the FBI says its counting has not changed

Christopher O'Leary

Role at the time: Former FBI agent and MS NOW contributor

Condemned

Statement summary

O'Leary called the reported assignment of FBI tactical agents to drive Wilkins's friend home outrageous and evidence of poor judgment by Patel.

“complete lack of judgment and integrity”
Open source (opens in a new tab)O'Leary condemns the reported use of agents to escort Wilkins's friend - sourceDecember 5, 2025 article, Christopher O'Leary quotation following the comparison with protection for spouses of former directors
Why we used this label

The reference point is Patel's reported escort order. O'Leary condemns that alleged use of FBI personnel.

Read statementDid FBI Director Kash Patel order the security detail protecting Alexis Wilkins to drive a friend home, as MS NOW reported?

A participant is a subject of the case. A speaker has a statement documented in it. A commentator has an opinion or editorial documented in it.