Kash Patel Wants You to Know He’s on the Nancy Guthrie Case

It’s been 10 days since Nancy Guthrie, mother of NBC Today host Savannah Guthrie, vanished from her Arizona home, and on Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel did what he does best: potentially already bungled an investigation because he’s too hasty to tweet about the details.

“Over the last eight days, the FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been working closely with our private sector partners to continue to recover any images or video footage from Nancy Guthrie’s home that may have been lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors – including the removal of recording devices,” Patel tweeted, along with four images of an armed and ski-masked individual appearing to be at Guthrie’s front door. Patel posted two more times, sharing two photos and three videos, the individual, who appeared to be wearing a jacket, backpack, and dark gloves. 

It’s unclear if Patel was allowed to release the images. According to FBI guidelines, it’s not standard to reveal the evidence of an ongoing investigation, but it’s also not standard to put a far-right MAGA podcaster in charge of the FBI. We’re all just existing in a void at this point. 

And Patel loves to tweet, especially about incorrect or premature findings. In September, he falsely claimed his agency had custody of Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer; around Halloween, he bragged about capturing the suspects of a planned terrorist attack (and alerted the suspects’ friends, who fled the country); and in December, he posted prematurely about the details of a tragedy unfolding at Brown University.

Speaking to the New York Times in January, one unnamed FBI official described Patel’s handling of the Kirk investigation as “literally scripting out [everyone’s] social media.” “I’m gonna tweet this,” Patel apparently said in a conference call shortly after landing in Salt Lake City in September. “Salt Lake, you tweet this. Dan [Bongino], you come in with this. Then I’ll come out with this.”

John Iannarelli, a former FBI special agent (who frequently speaks at conservative gatherings), told NewsNation that uploading the images was the right thing to do. “Lots of leads are going to come out of these pictures developed today,” he explained. “The FBI is going to be able to analyze this for the person’s height and weight, and the clothing is distinctive.” Alright. 

Nancy Guthrie was last seen after having dinner with her daughter, Annie, on January 31. She was dropped off around 9:45 p.m., her doorbell camera was disconnected at 1:47 a.m., and her pacemaker app was disconnected at 2:28 a.m. She was reported missing around noon the next day, after she failed to arrive at a friend’s house. 

The Guthrie family has posted four videos pleading for Nancy’s alleged abductors to release her, and a purported ransom note sent to CNN reportedly demanded $6 million by 5 p.m. February 10, which included a threat to her life. According to TMZ, the note included a “direct, stark statement about consequences” if the kidnappers did not get the money. 

Patel arrived in Tucson on Monday to help with the investigation, following through on a promise Trump made days earlier via Truth Social to direct “ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal, IMMEDIATELY.” On Tuesday, hours after he tweeted the photos, a man was detained at a traffic stop for questioning. He was released on Wednesday morning, and authorities have yet to explain why he was even pulled over in the first place. 

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