Jim Himes
Role at the time: Ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, in a joint letter with Rep. Jamie Raskin
Response to this claim
FBI Director Kash Patel is scheduled to visit Russia on October 14 and 15, 2026, first stopping in Moscow and then St. Petersburg, with the FSB likely to host him.
“We are troubled that you could be traveling to Russia, not only out of apparent ignorance of its malign intentions, but in furtherance of its longstanding campaign to undermine American democracy.”
Five-page letter dated October 5, 2026, from the ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees. It asks Patel to cancel a reported two-day trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg that Russia's Federal Security Service would host, and, if he goes ahead, to give a closed-door briefing by October 12 on the trip and on FBI cooperation with Russian and Chinese law enforcement.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Why we used this label
The case centers on Patel's reported trip to Russia hosted by the FSB. Himes writes that the trip could advance Russia's efforts to undermine American democracy, a direct objection to it, so we used condemns.