No, FBI nominee Kash Patel didn’t say the FBI found 256 emails between Adam Schiff, Jeffrey Epstein

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, has said he’ll work with Congress to investigate accomplices of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died in custody in 2019.

But claims Patel said that the FBI has uncovered a trove of emails between Epstein and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., trace back to not one, but two sources of self-described satire.

"BREAKING," a screenshot in a Feb. 10 Instagram post said. "Kash Patel says: ‘FBI investigation uncovers 256 emails between Adam Schiff and Jeffrey Epstein. This is a massive scandal, and Schiff must be held accountable." 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

The post’s screenshot comes from X, where on Feb. 6 an account called "Mel Gibson - Exposing the Elites Commentary" published the claim. 

The account’s bio says it is a "SATIRE ACCOUNT" with "no affiliations with Mel Gibson," the actor.

On Feb. 11, the account posted that Patel said, "If Adam Schiff is guilty in any of the 256 emails with Jeffrey Epstein, I will personally ensure that he faces the full consequences of the law and is held accountable for his actions."

We found no evidence, such as credible news reporting or public statements, that Patel made either remark in the X posts.

Featured Fact-check

X posts

stated on January 22, 2025 in a post

Elon Musk posted on X that the MAGA movement will “succeed in all the ways Nazi Germany failed to.”

If he had, he would’ve fallen for some fake news published 2020 on a website that trolls conservatives, "America’s Last Line of Defense."

"FBI investigation uncovers 256 emails between Schiff and Epstein," that post’s headline said. But it was clearly marked satire. 

We fact-checked that claim then when it spread on social media without a satire caveat and rated it Pants on Fire!

The assertion’s 2025 resurgence in connection with Patel is no less absurd. We rate claims Patel said the FBI had uncovered such a trove of emails Pants on Fire!