The Dispute Index

Michael Feinberg

Michael Feinberg is a former FBI special agent who served as an assistant special agent in charge and spent most of his bureau career on counterintelligence against China's intelligence services. Before joining the FBI he practiced law. He is a senior editor at Lawfare and a national security and intelligence analyst for MS NOW.

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What DI has documented

DI has documented statements by Michael Feinberg on Criminal Justice Policy and Law Enforcement. Read the quotations, original sources and related cases below.

Topics in this coverage

Statements by Michael Feinberg

Michael Feinberg

Role at the time: Former FBI special agent 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.

“He's taking credit for other agencies' efforts”
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. Feinberg says Patel is taking credit for other agencies' work, a direct criticism of the count, 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

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.