Hackers breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s emails prior to tenure as director: Sources
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats in the Hart Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Hackers breached FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, according to sources familiar with the situation.
The majority of the emails were from prior to 2019, according to sources, and appear to be from before his tenure at the FBI. There were a few emails from 2022, sources told ABC News.
“The FBI is aware of malicious actors targeting Director Patel’s personal email information, and 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 FBI said in a statement Friday.
It is unclear which country hacked the director’s old emails, however, Iranian-linked hackers online have claimed credit for the hack.
“The Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program offers up to a $10 million reward for information leading to the identification of the Handala Hack Team out of Iran — a group that has frequently targeted U.S. government officials,” the FBI said.
Reuters was the first to report the breach.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This image provided by the FBI Feb. 5, 2026, shows a missing person Nancy Guthrie. (FBI)
(TUCSON, Ariz.) — The FBI has recovered additional imagery from cameras at the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
The images were recovered in recent weeks from motion-activated cameras trained on the swimming pool, backyard and side yard, the sources said.
Investigators were unable to recover video footage, but reduced-size, thumbnail images captured when the cameras were triggered by motion.
The cameras recorded nothing suspicious, the sources said.
Investigators were able to observe several people in the back and side yards over an unspecified period prior to the abduction. After Nancy Guthrie was taken, law enforcement officers are seen near the pool.
However, the cameras captured nothing on the night of the abduction, the sources said. Investigators have drawn no conclusions as to why, but one source described it as “odd.”
Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson-area home nearly seven weeks ago, in the early hours of Feb. 1.
The FBI has previously released photos and videos of an unknown armed suspect in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home on the morning of her disappearance, appearing to tamper with a security camera.
The masked man appears to have been at her front door earlier than Feb. 1, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
The Pima County sheriff has repeated this week that he believes Guthrie was targeted, but investigators have released no motive and have identified no suspect.
Savannah Guthrie has offered a $1 million reward, bringing the combined reward between the family and law enforcement to $1.2 million.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
Andi Burns, 19, was pulled from freezing water after her truck crashed and first responders rescued her just in time. (ABC News)
(BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio) — A 19-year-old who crashed and became trapped upside down in a river in Batavia Township, Ohio, was pulled from her sinking pickup in a dramatic rescue captured on body camera footage.
The footage from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office obtained by ABC News showed first responders on Feb. 22 working to safely rescue Andi Burns as rising, freezing water filled the truck and a dispatcher stayed on the line to keep her calm.
Burns was driving home from work on State Route 222 when she lost control of her vehicle on black ice, hit a tree and plunged off a steep embankment into the Little Miami River, according to a copy of the accident report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Deputies and firefighters arrived on the scene to find the truck overturned in the river, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to Clermont County officials, Burns was wearing an Apple Watch that automatically called 911 using its crash detection feature.
“Please God please,” Burns was heard saying on the 911 call, telling dispatch that her head was “barely up” from the water.
In an interview with ABC News recalling the incident, Burns said she was “terrified.”
“It was completely black out, pitch black,” she said. “I didn’t think that anybody could hear me or knew what happened — I just was starting to freak out.”
Rescuers jumped into the water and shouted for tools to shatter a window and pop the door as they fought to reach her, according to the body camera footage.
“Grab my hand, grab both my hands,” one of the firefighters could be heard telling Burns in the footage.
Firefighter and EMT Tommy Jetter, who’s in his first year on the job, told ABC News that “the way that the car went in and flipped upside down altogether, that’s a very, very dangerous car accident wreck.”
He credited Burns for “being able to stay awake and find that air pocket and for her staying calm is very impressive.”
With the cab of the truck nearly filled with water and her head just inches from the water, crews were able to free Burns and pull her to safety, according to the footage.
“We got her!” the rescue team was heard shouting in the body cam footage.
Burns did not sustain any serious injuries and was able to walk away from the scene with just bruises, the accident report says.
“Surviving that car accident of one being in the water is very, very, very lucky, very fortunate, God was definitely on her side for that,” Jetter said.
Burns told ABC News she plans to become an EMT in Clermont County.
(NEW YORK) — A person was shot in an incident involving U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson told ABC News.
The shooting occurred early Tuesday morning, the Santa Rita Fire District said. Emergency responders provided first aid at the scene and the person was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, officials said.
The sheriff’s office said it’s working with the FBI and Customs and Border Protection.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
