The FBI has expanded its cooperation with Russia and China in the fight against crime — Reuters
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has expanded its cooperation with law enforcement agencies in Russia and China in the fight against transnational crime. This move has raised concerns among former U.S. intelligence officials.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the cooperation focuses on specific areas, including the fight against the illicit trafficking of fentanyl, cyber fraud, and child sexual exploitation networks.
The FBI noted that the cooperation has already gone beyond the exchange of information. Specifically, Chinese law enforcement officials have visited the U.S., FBI agents have worked in China on joint cases, the two sides have exchanged operational intelligence, and they have conducted joint raids and arrests. In late July, Kash Patel visited Beijing, and a trip to Russia is scheduled for October.
At the same time, as Reuters notes, this shift in approach has drawn criticism from former U.S. counterintelligence officials. They believe that such contacts could pose risks to national security and be exploited by Moscow and Beijing to gain access to U.S. facilities or classified information.
“China and Russia are our enemies, period. They are actively trying to harm our country physically, economically, and militarily,” said Jeff Crocker, a former FBI agent who retired in 2024.
Patel emphasized that the cooperation is selective in nature and does not extend to all areas of the intelligence agency’s activities. According to him, cooperation with so-called “non-traditional partners” is limited to combating specific types of international crime.
This was reported by Reuters.
As a reminder, Patrick Yarokh, the head of one of the FBI’s divisions, was charged with two federal counts after an investigation determined that he had transferred nearly $1 million from cryptocurrency accounts linked to Russia to his own crypto wallet.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel plans to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in October. The trip is being organized amid tense relations between the U.S. and Russia.
