The FBI suspended the employee on the list of enemies of the patest

The FBI suspended an analyst on the list of so -called Kash Patel enemies after Mr. Patel told legislators that the office under his leadership would remain away from the political fray and would not punish employees for partisan reasons.

Last week, the office placed the analyst, Brian Auten, on administrative leave, according to people familiar with the question that spoke under the guise of anonymity because they feared reprisals. The reasons for the suspension remain clear.

The FBI refused to comment. A lawyer for Mr. Auten also refused to comment.

The suspension is likely to raise questions on the question of whether this decision was reprisals and how Mr. Pate would stick to his promise, made during his confirmation audience in January, that the agency would exceed the partisan, despite the pressure of the allies of President Trump to dismiss employees who participated in investigations that the conservatives have condemned.

The suspension of Mr. Auten, who had already been disciplined and questioned in a criminal investigation, will also intensify distrust of Mr. Patel among the employees who have seen the senior leaders forced to go out in recent months without any explanation.

Mr. AUTEN worked on two major surveys that made Mr. Trump and Mr. Patel, including the FBI investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential election. He also participated in the analysis of the information found on the laptop of Hunter Biden, a discovery that turned the 2020 presidential campaign.

Mr. Patel called for the investigation in Russia a hoax and distinguished Mr. Auten in his book “Government Gangsters”. In the book, Mr. Patel said that the FBI was trying to “hide and turn” what he called “Biden family corruption” buried in the laptop, even though the agents investigated the issue.