In just 74 seconds, 17 FBI case files disappeared from the bureau’s internal evidence management system. The cameras are already rolling. The hearing room is packed. Representative Jasmine Crockett sits at the center of the oversight committee’s bench, a single manila folder open in front of her. FBI Director Cash Patel is sworn in, his hand still lowering from the oath. The date is March 18th, 2025. Crockett’s first question sounds routine. Director Patel, can you confirm that the FBI maintains digital logs of all evidence access within its case management system? Patel nods. Yes, Congresswoman. Every file access is timestamped and attributed to specific credentials. And these logs are permanent. They’re designed to be immutable. Yes. Crockett flips a page. Her voice doesn’t change. Then can you explain why 17 active case files were reclassified as administratively sealed between 11:47 p.m. and 11:48 p.m. on February 9th, 2025? Patel’s hand stops halfway to his water glass. I’d need to review the specific cases you’re referring to. Crockett slides a document across the table. The committee’s overhead camera catches it. A printout of an FBI internal database screen. Case numbers run down the left side. CC-2024-8871 EC-2023-442 CC-2025-1103 17 rows every status field reads the same thing a dm I ns e a l e d- d i r a u t hr eq u iir d the timestamp column is identical for all 17 234743 UTC C 234751 UTC 234758 UTC all within 74 seconds. These cases, Crockett says, involved financial fraud, public corruption, and obstruction investigations. Some were weeks from grand jury presentation. All of them went dark in under 2 minutes. Patel leans forward. Congresswoman, I’d need to review the circumstances. The circumstances are on the screen, director. 17 cases, 74 seconds, all sealed using director level credentials. Silence. Not hesitation. Silence. Patel’s jaw tightens. His hands flatten on the table. Crockett continues. According to the bureau’s own access logs, the terminal that issued these reclassifications was located in the director’s suite at FBI headquarters. Terminal ID by DIIR01 primary. She slides another page forward. That’s your terminal, director. The room is completely still. Photographers shift in the gallery. A staffer’s pen stops midnote. Patel’s voice is measured. Administrative reclassifications occur for various operational reasons. Classification decisions are made in consultation with director. Yes or no? Did you personally authorize the ceiling of these 17 cases? Patel’s eyes move to his attorney. Back to Crockett. I’d need to review the full context before. That’s not a yes or no answer. Congresswoman, classification decisions involve yes or no. Nothing happens. No denial, no explanation, just silence. Crockett lets it sit for three full seconds. Then she pulls out another document. Let me ask about a specific case. CC-2025-1103, an investigation into fraudulent appropriation of federal disaster relief funds. This case was opened January 4th, 2025. 31 witnesses interviewed, 12 subpoenas issued. The lead agent on this case was special agent Michael Torrren out of the Miami field office. She looks up. On February 8th, 2025, agent Torrren filed an internal memo requesting expedited grand jury referral. He cited a time-sensitive evidentiary window. Do you recall this memo? Patel’s face is neutral. I receive hundreds of memos weekly. This one was flagged priority. You responded to it. Crockett slides forward an email chain. The header shows director Cash Patel as the sender. The timestamp reads February 8th, 2025, 6:14 p.m. The message is two sentences. Hold pending review. No external contact. Director, what did no external contact mean? Standard protocol when cases require higher level review. Agent Torrren interpreted it differently. On February 9th, he attempted to access case file CC20251103 to prepare grand jury materials. He was locked out. Crockett produces another log. The screen capture shows an FBI case access attempt. The username field reads Torrance_m_3841. The result field reads access denied. Admin override. The timestamp February 9th, 2025, 9:22 a.m. 14 hours before the file was sealed. Director Agent Torrren was the case lead. He had full clearance. Why was he locked out of his own investigation? Patel shifts in his seat. I’d need to review the specific access protocols. You already locked him out 14 hours before you sealed the case entirely. Congresswoman, investigative decisions are made based on operational necessity. What operational necessity required deleting the forensic evidence logs. The room’s temperature drops. Patel’s attorney leans in, whispering. Patel’s hand moves to his tie, not adjusting it, just touching it. Crockett doesn’t wait. On February 10th, the day after these files were sealed, agent Torren filed a formal objection with the inspection division. He stated that critical digital evidence, financial transaction records, encrypted communications, forensic audit reports had been removed from the case database. She pulls out yet another document. It’s a bureau form, an internal evidence discrepancy report. Agent Torren signature is at the bottom. The date is February 10th, 2025. The description field reads, “Evidence items EV1103047 through EV1103063 no longer appear in case database. Chain of custody records also missing. Request immediate audit.” Crockett’s voice is clinical. Director, 17 pieces of evidence disappeared from an active federal investigation. The agent who built the case was locked out. The case was sealed using your credentials and the evidence logs vanished. Patel’s jaw clenches. Evidence is sometimes moved for security reasons. Moved where? Silence. Director. Moved where? Patel’s hands are motionless. His breathing is shallow. That information is classified. Crockett leans back. Her expression doesn’t change. Let’s talk about another case. EC2023442. An obstruction investigation opened in November 2023. This case involved falsified records submitted to federal oversight bodies. The case file was active for 16 months. 62 witness interviews, 84 documents subpoenaed. She pauses. On February 9th, 2025, at 11:47 p.m., this case was also sealed. Same 74 second window. Same director level credentials. Patel’s face is stone. But here’s the interesting part. Director, on February 8th, the day before the sealing, an assistant US attorney in the Eastern District requested a case status update. She was preparing a prosecution memo. Do you know what she was told? Crockett slides forward an email. The sender is an FBI liaison. The timestamp is February 9th, 2025 10:03 a.m. The message reads case EC2034402 is no longer active. Further inquiries should be directed to FBI Office of Public Affairs. Director, when a case is referred to public affairs instead of being prosecuted, what does that typically mean? Patel doesn’t answer. It means it’s being buried. The gallery erupts. Reporters lean into their phones. Committee members exchange glances. The chairman’s gavvel comes down twice. Crockett doesn’t react. Director, I’m going to ask you a direct question. Did you personally order the deletion of evidence from case CC 20251103? Patel’s attorney’s hand moves to his shoulder. Patel shakes his head slightly. I did not delete evidence. Did you order someone else to delete it? I did not order evidence deletion. Then where is it? Patel’s hands press flat, his eyes fix on the table. Some materials are moved to secure compartments. Compartments that the case agent can’t access. Correct. Compartments that a federal prosecutor can’t access in some circumstances. Yes. Compartments that this committee can’t access. Patel’s jaw tightens. Congressional oversight has established procedures. Director, yes or no. Can you produce the missing evidence logs from case CC20251103? I’d need to consult with yes or no. Silence, not defiance. Silence. Crockett pulls out a final document. It’s thicker than the others. The cover page reads subpoena. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. She doesn’t hand it to him. She just sets it on the table between them. Director, this subpoena requires the production of all access logs, reclassification orders, and evidence custody records for 17 FBI case files sealed on February 9th, 2025. You have 7 days. Patel’s eyes move to the document. Back to Crockett. Some of that material is classified. Then you’ll produce it in a classified setting. Congressional access to ongoing investigations is constrained by these investigations aren’t ongoing, director. You sealed them. They’re not active. They’re not pending. They’re gone. Patel’s attorney leans in again. This time, Patel listens longer. When he sits back up, his face is carefully blank. Congresswoman, I’ll review the subpoena with Bureau Council. Crockett’s voice doesn’t change. Director, do you know why Agent Torrren filed his evidence discrepancy report? Patel says nothing. Because on February 9th, the same day these cases were sealed, he attempted to access the financial transaction records he’d obtained through a federal warrant. The records weren’t just sealed. They were deleted from the evidence database entirely, permanently. She leans forward. Director, under FBI policy, evidence deletion requires a court order or a documented chain of custody transfer. Which one authorized the deletion of evidence in case CC251103? Patel’s breathing is controlled. His hands don’t move. I’ll need to review the case file to provide that information. You can’t review it, director. You sealed it. The hearing room is silent, not quiet. Silent. Crockett closes her folder. Director, this committee is issuing subpoenas for the full case files, access logs, and evidence custody records for all 17 investigations sealed on February 9th. We’re also issuing a subpoena for your personal communications, emails, memos, text messages from February 1st through February 15th, 2025. Patel’s attorney starts to stand. Crockett keeps talking. We’re issuing a subpoena for testimony from agent Michael Torrren, the assistant US attorney who requested the status update and every FBI employee with access to terminal DIR01 primary during the 74 second window when these cases disappeared. She pauses. And director, we’re referring this matter to the inspector general for investigation into potential evidence tampering and obstruction of justice. Patel’s face doesn’t change. His hands remain flat on the table. The chairman clears his throat. The witness is excused pending response to committee subpoenas. Patel stands. His movements are deliberate, controlled. He doesn’t look at Crockett as he walks past the committee bench. The cameras follow him all the way to the door. Crockett remains seated. The Manila folder is still open. The subpoena is still on the table. 17 case files, 74 seconds, and no answers. The files are still missing. The evidence is still gone. And somewhere in the FBI’s classified archives locked behind director on director level credentials that only Cash Patel controls, 17 investigations into fraud, corruption, and obstruction sit in administrative darkness. The hearing room empties slowly. Reporters rush for the exits. Committee members huddle in quiet conference. Crockett gathers her documents. Her face shows nothing. On February 9th, 2025, at 11:47 p.m., someone with access to FBI Director Cash Patel’s terminal made 17 federal investigations disappear. And in a hearing room on March 18th, the man who controls that terminal couldn’t explain why. The cameras are still rolling. Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double check responses.