Whitehouse, Durbin Accuse Kash Patel of Rewriting Renée Good Warrant to Avoid “Victim”
A dispute over how federal investigators described Renée Good in a search-warrant request is now at the center of a widening political fight over her killing in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Senate Judiciary Democrats say a “credible whistleblower” alleges FBI forensic experts were ordered to stand down from processing the scene because FBI Director Kash Patel did not want Good referred to as a “victim” in the warrant.
In a Feb. 27 press release, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Dick Durbin said Durbin received “credible whistleblower information” that aligns with public reporting: Patel allegedly pushed to remove “victim” language and instead frame Good as the subject of a probe into assaulting a federal officer.
The same release says the shutdown of a civil-rights use-of-force investigation was tied to worries it would contradict President Donald Trump’s public claims about the shooting, which the senators described as false, citing New York Times reporting.
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That creates a procedural and legal tension: if the subject of a warrant is re-cast from “victim” to “suspect,” it can alter what evidence is sought, how it’s justified, and how investigators describe the underlying incident.
“In the absence of an independent use-of-force investigation, you lead the public to believe that there must be something to hide,” Minnesota defense attorney Chris Madel said, as quoted in the senators’ release.
The Independent, summarizing New York Times reporting, said investigators obtained a warrant tied to documenting blood spatter and bullet holes in Good’s SUV, but received orders to stop and were encouraged to pursue new warrants aimed at whether Good assaulted ICE agent Jonathan Ross and to scrutinize her partner.
Whitehouse and Durbin say they want DOJ’s Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility to investigate who ordered the closure and why, setting up the next round of document demands and potential whistleblower testimony.
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