A new report claims that billionaire investor Peter Thiel secretly played a part as an FBI informant as recently as 2021.
According to Insider, Thiel acted as a “confidential human source,” to Los Angeles-based FBI agent Johnathan Buma after the two were introduced by conservative Charles Johnson, also an FBI informant, who made the bombshell allegation to the outlet.
“A source with knowledge of Thiel’s relationship to the FBI, whose identity is known to Insider but who insisted on anonymity, corroborated Johnson’s account, telling Insider that Johnson brokered a relationship between Thiel and Buma. Insider was able to confirm through an additional source that the FBI added Thiel to its formal roster of registered informants,” Insider reported.
Though another source would not confirm that the German-American billionaire entrepreneur and PayPal cofounder was, in fact, a “confidential human source,” he did “occasionally” speak to Buma.
“The source said that any assistance Thiel might have provided to the FBI should be understood as part of Thiel’s gradual distancing of himself from Trump and the broader MAGA movement, which has vigorously criticized the FBI and other federal law-enforcement agencies.” Insider continued.
This is so weird (if true)
Peter Thiel was an FBI informant (not the weirdest part)
He was introduced to the FBI by Charles Johnson, who then exposed Peter as an informant for retribution for “bad decision-making by Founders Fund”
(FF didn’t want to invest in his companies) pic.twitter.com/WAgritCnvR
— Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) October 19, 2023
The report went on to explain that “the process for recruiting and maintaining such sources is highly regulated, requiring multiple layers of approval. Only people who are able to provide ‘valuable information … on a recurring basis’ are granted CHS status,” according to the bureau’s Confidential Human Source Policy Guide.
Thiel was reportedly also given a code name and an internal serial number while his case agents evidently reviewed and “validated” information he passed on to them.
He served on then-President-elect Trump’s transition team and had reportedly donated $1.25 million to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign
“Thiel has publicly called on the FBI to investigate Google’s ties to the Chinese government. Thiel, Johnson said, was directed by the FBI not to report on his interactions with Donald Trump or other US political figures,” according to Insider.
The report also noted that Thiel “did not respond to multiple requests for comment” and a spokesperson “stopped responding to inquiries after being told that Insider was reporting on Thiel’s relationship with the FBI.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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