EXCLUSIVE INVESTIGATION: Iranians Crash Kash's Emails! FBI On the Hunt for Hackers Who Humiliated Director Patel
Iranians hack Kash Patel's emails, forcing the FBI to hunt down the criminals behind the breach that humiliated him.
April 26 2026, Published 9:00 a.m. ET
Iranian hackers got their mitts on FBI Director Kash Patel's personal emails and potentially incriminating photos – and dumped them on the internet in the latest embarrassment for America's top G-man, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The breach includes messages from between 2010 and 2022 that were stolen from Patel's Gmail account, sources said.
Most of the emails concerned everyday affairs like the former Miami federal defense lawyer's efforts to find an apartment and develop a social network in Washington, D.C., after he joined the Justice Department in 2014, sources said.
Hackers Tease More Damaging Email Leaks
A hacking group calling itself Handala claimed responsibility for breaching FBI Director Kash Patel's personal Gmail account and releasing emails online.
However, the cyberattackers also seem to have held some email attachments back from the initial dump, experts said, suggesting that more mortifying material could come to light.
A digital group calling itself the Handala Hack Team claimed responsibility. Experts said the organization is aligned with Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security – even though investigators traced the server that hosted the hacked materials to Russia and the domain on which they appeared to Tonga, an island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean.
Still, Handala posted on its website that Patel will "find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims."
Patel Cuba Trip Photos Raise Questions
Experts said some attachments from Patel's hacked emails were withheld, raising concerns about potentially more damaging material.
The group released undated photos of Patel during a trip to Cuba and posing next to a bronze statue of Ernest Hemingway in Havana.
National security expert Wayne Madsen told RadarOnline.com, Patel may have violated America's long-held sanctions against the communist nation if he spent U.S. greenbacks on the island without permission from the Treasury Department!
The FBI has posted a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of the group's members and noted that it is "aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel's personal email information."
Patel Faces Backlash Over Travel, Spending
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Ben Williamson stated the FBI has taken steps to mitigate risks after Patel's email breach, noting the data involved was 'historical in nature.'
Spokesman Ben Williamson said: "We have taken all necessary steps to mitigate potential risks associated with this activity. The information in question is historical in nature and involves no government information."
The breach, however, was only the latest black eye for Patel, who raised eyebrows in February when he boozily celebrated with the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team after their gold medal win.
Critics also questioned his use of a government plane to get to that game, as well as to a hunting trip to Texas and a wrestling event in Pennsylvania, at which his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, performed.
Colorado Democrat Jason Crow called Patel's use of the FBI's private jet to get to the Milan Games "gift and corruption" and added that "taxpayer dollars funding the FBI director's Italian vacation" is "unreal."
