NEW YORK — The FBI has formally responded to a Midtown Tribune records request concerning Konstantin Borovoy and the period before September 11, 2001. The bureau declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist. The request is part of a broader documentary investigation into Borovoy’s public claim that he warned U.S. officials in 1999 about Osama bin Laden, civilian aircraft, New York and alleged Russian intelligence involvement.

September 24, 2026 | Midtown Tribune Investigations Desk

Editorial clarification: Midtown Tribune is investigating Borovoy’s allegations and related open-source historical material. We are not reporting as established fact that the Kremlin, the Soviet Union, Russian intelligence, or Vladimir Putin planned or directed the September 11 attacks. The official U.S. record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether contemporaneous records support, contradict or clarify Borovoy’s claims.

The New Development: The FBI Has Responded

On September 17, 2026, the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Midtown Tribune a formal response to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records concerning Konstantin Borovoy from the period before September 11, 2001.

The FBI assigned the matter FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000 and identified the subject as:

“BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001)”

The FBI did not say that no records exist.

Instead, because the request concerns another living individual, the bureau said it would “neither confirm nor deny the existence of such records” under FOIA privacy exemptions (b)(6) and (b)(7)(C).

The FBI also stated that this standard response should not be interpreted to mean that records either exist or do not exist.

That distinction is central. The FBI response does not validate Borovoy’s allegations, but it also does not resolve whether responsive records exist.

Why Midtown Tribune Requested the Records

The FBI request is not the subject of the investigation. It is one tool being used to search for contemporaneous evidence.

Midtown Tribune is examining a specific historical claim: whether Borovoy provided U.S. authorities before September 11, 2001 with information alleging that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda were preparing an attack involving civilian aircraft and New York, and whether that information also alleged involvement or cooperation by Russian intelligence or security structures.

The investigation asks four separate questions:

• Did Borovoy actually provide such information to U.S. officials before September 11, 2001?
• If he did, what exactly did he say and when did he say it?
• Did his information include a specific allegation concerning Russian intelligence or security services?
• Do contemporaneous U.S. government records support, contradict or materially qualify his later account?

Those questions should not be collapsed into a conclusion. Proof that a warning was delivered would not automatically prove that the warning was accurate. Proof of historical Soviet relationships with militant organizations would not automatically prove Russian involvement in 9/11.

What Borovoy Publicly Claimed

In a 2020 interview published by Gordon, Borovoy was asked directly about his claim that Russian intelligence services were involved in planning an attack by Osama bin Laden’s terrorists against the United States.

Borovoy answered that he had traveled to the United States in 1999 carrying information about preparations for terrorist attacks. He described the information as alleging that bin Laden and al-Qaeda intended to use civilian aircraft against skyscrapers in New York.

He further said that he told a deputy director of the FBI in Washington about the information.

These are Borovoy’s statements, not independently established findings by Midtown Tribune.

Source: Gordon interview with Konstantin Borovoy.

Borovoy’s Claimed Source: Two GRU Officers

In the same interview, Borovoy said that the information came from two officers whom he identified as GRU officers. According to his account, those officers told him about bin Laden while he was investigating other allegations involving Russian security structures.

Borovoy also claimed that a later FBI inquiry made with the assistance of a U.S. congressman confirmed that the FBI had possessed such information but had failed to act on it because of poor coordination among agencies.

Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained the alleged 2003 FBI response described by Borovoy. Until such a document is produced and authenticated, that portion remains Borovoy’s claim.

A Contemporaneous Fact: Borovoy Was Testifying in Washington in 1999

There is independent official evidence placing Borovoy in Washington during the relevant period.

On October 7, 1999, Borovoy testified before the U.S. House Committee on International Relations at a hearing titled U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Part II: Corruption in the Russian Government.

The official congressional record identifies him as a Russian State Duma deputy and chairman of the Economic Freedom Party.

In that testimony, Borovoy warned about the criminalization of Russian political power, hostility toward the United States and NATO, and the possibility that Russia could develop into what he called a “small evil empire” hostile to the democratic world. He also warned that U.S. policy could produce circumstances resembling events preceding Pearl Harbor.

Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office — October 7, 1999 House hearing.

But the public transcript of that hearing does not contain Borovoy’s later specific claim about bin Laden, civilian aircraft striking New York skyscrapers or Russian intelligence involvement in such an operation.

That absence is important. It is one reason Midtown Tribune is seeking other contemporaneous records.

Why Midtown Tribune Is Also Examining the Soviet-Era Record

Borovoy’s allegation concerns post-Soviet Russian intelligence. Midtown Tribune is also reviewing older open-source material because some former Soviet-bloc intelligence officials described a much earlier history of state contact with militant organizations and aircraft hijacking.

This historical material may provide context. It does not by itself establish continuity from Soviet operations to the September 11 plot.

Ion Mihai Pacepa’s Claim About the KGB and Passenger Aircraft

Ion Mihai Pacepa, a former senior Romanian intelligence official who defected to the United States, later made a striking retrospective allegation about Soviet intelligence and terrorism.

Writing in 2011, Pacepa said that KGB chairman Yuri Andropov viewed international terrorism as a strategic weapon and claimed that hijacked passenger aircraft became a KGB terrorist tool beginning in 1969.

Pacepa further claimed that a series of major hijackings had been organized through KGB structures and carried out by militants trained by the KGB.

Source: Ion Mihai Pacepa, “What I Remember,” National Review, 2011.

Midtown Tribune treats this as Pacepa’s retrospective allegation. It is not equivalent to an official finding that the Soviet Union created the specific September 11 method of crashing hijacked civilian aircraft into buildings.

What Archival Records Show About the KGB and Wadi Haddad

Separate archival material provides documentary evidence of a covert relationship between the KGB and Wadi Haddad, who headed external operations for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

A KGB memorandum dated April 23, 1974, reproduced and translated by the Bukovsky Archives, states that the KGB had maintained secret working contact with Haddad since 1968. The document says the relationship allowed Soviet intelligence to exercise influence over the PFLP’s external-operations section and potentially pursue Soviet objectives through the organization while preserving secrecy.

Source: Bukovsky Archives — KGB memorandum, April 23, 1974.

A second KGB document dated May 16, 1975, also reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives, describes Haddad as a trusted KGB intelligence agent and records a covert Soviet transfer of foreign-made weapons and ammunition to him.

Source: Bukovsky Archives — KGB memorandum, May 16, 1975.

These documents are relevant to the historical question of Soviet relationships with militant organizations. They do not establish that the KGB planned the September 11 attacks.

U.S. Government Records Confirm Earlier Terrorist Hijackings of New York-Bound Aircraft

Official U.S. records provide another part of the historical background.

On September 6, 1970, members of the PFLP launched a coordinated series of aircraft hijackings. U.S. State Department records show that TWA Flight 741 was scheduled from Frankfurt to New York and Swissair Flight 100 from Zurich to New York when they were hijacked. Other aircraft were also targeted in the operation.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian — September 6, 1970 telegram on multiple hijackings.

A National Archives account of the same episode describes four commercial aircraft in Europe destined for New York City as targets of the coordinated September 1970 operation.

Source: U.S. National Archives — historical review of the September 1970 hijackings.

But the 1970 operation involved hijacking, hostage-taking and destruction of aircraft after passengers were removed. These U.S. archival records do not establish a Soviet plan to crash civilian aircraft into New York skyscrapers.

What the Official 9/11 Record Says

The established U.S. account attributes the September 11 attacks to al-Qaeda.

The FBI’s official history of the investigation states that the 19 hijackers were trained by al-Qaeda and that the Bureau opened the PENTTBOM investigation immediately after the attacks.

Source: FBI — 9/11 Investigation.

The 9/11 Commission reconstructed the development of the plot within al-Qaeda, including the roles of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Osama bin Laden.

The Commission also reported that the available evidence showed the 19 operatives were funded by al-Qaeda and that it found no evidence that a foreign government or foreign government official supplied funding for the plot.

Source: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States — Chapter 5.

That finding is significant, but it should not be stretched beyond what it says. A finding concerning financing is not automatically a finding about every conceivable intelligence contact, relationship, source, warning or form of assistance.

What the Current Evidence Does — and Does Not — Show

What is documented

• Borovoy publicly claimed that in 1999 he carried information to the United States concerning bin Laden, al-Qaeda, civilian aircraft and New York.
• Borovoy publicly alleged that the information included a Russian-intelligence dimension.
• Borovoy was in Washington and testified before Congress in October 1999 on Russian political and security concerns.
• Pacepa later alleged that Soviet intelligence had adopted aircraft hijacking as a terrorist instrument decades earlier.
• Archival KGB material reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives documents a covert KGB relationship with Wadi Haddad, a major PFLP external-operations figure.
• Official U.S. records document PFLP hijackings of New York-bound passenger aircraft in 1970.
• The official U.S. 9/11 record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda.
• The FBI has now declined to confirm or deny whether it holds responsive pre-9/11 records concerning Borovoy.

What is not established

• Midtown Tribune has not established that the Kremlin planned the September 11 attacks.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that Vladimir Putin personally ordered or approved the attacks.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that Russian intelligence directed Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda’s 9/11 operation.
• Midtown Tribune has not established that the Soviet Union designed the specific tactic of crashing civilian passenger aircraft into New York skyscrapers.
• Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained a contemporaneous FBI document confirming Borovoy’s claimed 1999 warning.
• Midtown Tribune has not yet obtained the 2003 FBI response Borovoy says confirmed that the information had existed inside the U.S. government.

What the FBI’s New Letter Means

The September 17, 2026 FBI letter is important because it creates a documented new step in the records search.

It confirms that the FBI formally processed Midtown Tribune’s request under FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000 and identified its subject as “BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001).”

But because the request concerned a third party, the bureau invoked privacy exemptions and declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

The letter therefore cannot honestly be described as either:

• “The FBI confirmed Borovoy’s warning,” or
• “The FBI confirmed there are no Borovoy records.”

Neither statement is supported by the response.

Midtown Tribune Has Asked Borovoy to Request His Own Records

After receiving the FBI response, Midtown Tribune contacted Borovoy and asked him to consider filing his own first-person request for FBI records covering the period from January 1, 1999 through September 11, 2001.

The purpose is straightforward: the FBI’s current response is based on privacy protections applicable to a request concerning another person. A request from Borovoy himself could permit a different records review, although other legal exemptions could still apply.

Midtown Tribune has supplied Borovoy with draft language for such a request.

The Evidence Midtown Tribune Is Looking For

The investigation is now focused on documents created before September 11, 2001.

Particularly important would be authenticated records showing that, before the attacks, U.S. officials received information combining some or all of the following elements:

• Osama bin Laden or al-Qaeda;
• civilian passenger aircraft;
• New York or New York skyscrapers;
• a planned attack against the United States;
• and an allegation concerning Russian intelligence or security personnel.

An FBI FD-302, electronic communication, intelligence referral, embassy cable, State Department record, congressional correspondence, visitor record or other contemporaneous government document could materially change the evidentiary picture.

Even then, two questions would remain separate:

1. Was the warning actually delivered before September 11?
2. Was the warning factually correct?

Those are not the same question.

The Central Question

Midtown Tribune’s investigation can be reduced to a narrowly framed historical question:

Did U.S. authorities receive a specific warning before September 11, 2001 alleging that Russian intelligence or security structures were connected to a bin Laden operation involving civilian aircraft and New York — and, if so, what evidence existed behind that warning?

That is the question the records search is intended to answer.

Bottom Line

The news today is that the FBI has responded to Midtown Tribune’s records request.

The bureau declined to confirm or deny whether it holds responsive pre-9/11 records concerning Konstantin Borovoy.

The larger investigation concerns Borovoy’s allegation that he warned U.S. officials in 1999 about bin Laden, civilian aircraft, New York and an alleged Russian-intelligence connection.

Open-source historical material shows that Soviet intelligence had covert relationships with figures involved in international terrorism and that militant organizations had used civilian passenger aircraft in coordinated operations decades before 9/11. Pacepa later alleged that aircraft hijacking had become a KGB terrorist instrument.

But those facts and allegations do not, separately or together, prove Russian responsibility for 9/11.

The missing evidence is contemporaneous documentation directly connecting the specific pre-9/11 warning described by Borovoy to U.S. government records — and, beyond that, evidence establishing whether the underlying allegation was true.

Midtown Tribune is continuing to look for that evidence.

FAQ

Did the FBI confirm that it has records about Borovoy’s alleged 1999 warning?

No. The FBI declined to confirm or deny whether responsive records exist.

Did the FBI say that no such records exist?

No. The FBI specifically said its standard response should not be interpreted to mean that records either exist or do not exist.

Is Midtown Tribune claiming that Russia organized 9/11?

No. Midtown Tribune is investigating Borovoy’s allegation and related historical evidence. The established U.S. record attributes the attacks to al-Qaeda.

What exactly did Borovoy claim?

In a 2020 interview, Borovoy said he brought information to the United States in 1999 alleging that bin Laden and al-Qaeda were preparing to use civilian aircraft against New York skyscrapers. He also described the information as having a Russian-intelligence dimension. These remain his claims unless independently corroborated.

What did Pacepa claim?

Pacepa later alleged that Soviet intelligence had turned hijacked passenger aircraft into a terrorist instrument beginning in the late 1960s. Midtown Tribune treats this as a retrospective intelligence-source claim, not proof that the Soviet Union designed the September 11 attacks.

What do archival records independently show?

Archival KGB material reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives documents covert KGB contact with Wadi Haddad of the PFLP and later Soviet arms support. Official U.S. records document coordinated PFLP hijackings of New York-bound aircraft in 1970. These records establish historical context, not responsibility for 9/11.

Primary Sources and Investigation Files

FBI — September 17, 2026 FOIPA response to Midtown Tribune
FOIPA Request No. 1757298-000, subject: “BOROVOY, KONSTANTIN (Before September 11, 2001).” Midtown Tribune possesses the response letter. The public article does not reproduce the requester’s private address or any temporary eFOIA download token.

U.S. Government Publishing Office — Borovoy testimony, October 7, 1999
U.S. Policy Toward Russia, Part II: Corruption in the Russian Government

FBI — Official 9/11 investigation
9/11 Investigation

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
9/11 Commission Report — Chapter 5

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
September 6, 1970 telegram on multiple aircraft hijackings

U.S. National Archives
Historical review of the September 1970 hijackings

Konstantin Borovoy interview
Gordon — Borovoy interview containing his account of the alleged 1999 warning

Ion Mihai Pacepa — retrospective account
National Review — “What I Remember”

KGB memorandum reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives — April 23, 1974
KGB contact with Wadi Haddad

KGB memorandum reproduced by the Bukovsky Archives — May 16, 1975
Covert arms transfer to Wadi Haddad

Editorial Standard

Midtown Tribune distinguishes primary documents, established historical facts, retrospective testimony and unverified allegations. Statements by Konstantin Borovoy and Ion Mihai Pacepa are attributed to them unless independently corroborated. Historical evidence of Soviet intelligence relationships with militant organizations does not, by itself, establish Soviet or Russian responsibility for the September 11 attacks. This investigation will be updated if additional authenticated primary-source records become available.

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The FBI is working to determine whether a breach involving its jobs website originated within the bureau or through a third-party provider after a criminal hacking group claimed it obtained FBI employees’ personal information.

"The FBI is aware of a cyber-criminal enterprise group claiming a compromise of the FBIJobs.gov portal and alleged impact to FBI employee personally identifiable information (PII)," the organization wrote in an X post Thursday. 

"While the point of breach is still undetermined — whether a third-party or the FBI’s enterprise — we are actively and aggressively investigating this matter and working closely with those third-party providers that support FBIJobs.gov to mitigate any and all risk."

Jason Pack, CEO of Media Rep Global Strategies and a retired FBI supervisory special agent, said the distinction between a personnel data breach and access to the FBI’s classified systems is critical as investigators determine the scope of the incident.

FBI INVESTIGATES AFTER SHINYHUNTERS HACKERS CLAIM THEFT OF AGENTS' PERSONAL DATA

"There is a meaningful difference between somebody obtaining personnel information and somebody gaining access to classified investigative systems," he told Fox News Digital. "Based on what we know right now, there is no indication they have the keys to the kingdom."

ShinyHunters, a criminal hacking and extortion group, has taken responsibility for the breach and said it stole information belonging to nearly all FBI agents and people who applied to work for the bureau, Reuters previously reported.

A sample of data shared with Reuters contained agents’ names, home addresses, Social Security numbers, assignments and, in some cases, names of family members, according to the outlet.

DMV BREACH CONFIRMED AS HACKERS CLAIM 200,000 RECORDS STOLEN

Pack said combining personal information with information about an FBI employee's work could create additional security risks.

"If an adversary knows who somebody is, where they work and what they do, they can build a much more believable scam around that person," he said.

Pack said assignment information could also carry counterintelligence implications if it falls into the hands of a foreign intelligence service.

"There is also a counterintelligence concern. If a foreign intelligence service can associate particular people with certain assignments, it can help them identify individuals they may want to learn more about, approach or potentially assess for recruitment," he added. 

"That does not mean that is happening here. It simply explains why assignment information can have value to an adversary."

CHINA-LINKED HACKERS INFILTRATED US GOVERNMENT NETWORKS BEFORE FBI TAKEDOWN

Pack stressed that the hackers’ claims remain separate from what the FBI has confirmed, and said the bureau still needs to determine what information was accessed, how the breach occurred and who may have been affected.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"The danger from stolen personal information does not necessarily end when the computer vulnerability is fixed," he said. "Criminals may hold onto that information and use it weeks or months later."

The FBI said it is working with third-party providers supporting FBIJobs.gov as investigators seek to determine the source of the breach and mitigate potential risks.

TEL AVIV — Even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleads his country’s case to the world at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, his target audience will likely be closer to home: Israeli voters ahead of next month’s crucial elections.

Netanyahu arrived in New York on Thursday for what appears to be a whirlwind trip that will highlight the growing isolation of the U.S. ally over its assault on the Gaza Strip.

With only a handful of diplomatic meetings on the sidelines of the assembly and President Donald Trump’s focus firmly on his summit with China’s Xi Jinping, the prime minister looks set to return to Israel shortly after his address to be back in time for the major Jewish holiday of Sukkot on Friday evening.

“I am leaving tonight for New York in order to defend, from the U.N. podium, Israel and IDF soldiers,” the prime minister said in a video Wednesday night before he left. “You hear the terrible lies that are being spread there.”

Netanyahu is likely to address an almost empty chamber as delegates observe an annual tradition of walking out in protest over the conduct of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. But that spectacle will likely play well among the premier’s domestic supporters, for whom he has styled himself as a defiant truth teller standing up for Israel on the global stage.

While much of the world has condemned Israel for the huge loss of civilian life and continuing humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, Netanyahu’s primary domestic challenge comes from an Israeli right wing that accuses him of not being tough enough in the country’s multifront war on Iran and its proxy groups.

“The main reason that brings him to the UN General Assembly this time is the opportunity to talk, using the UN microphone, to his voters in Israel, in his polished English, in a speech that of course will be accompanied by exaggerated descriptions of his great achievements,” Efraim Ganor, a political and strategic affairs expert, wrote in the right-leaning Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv.

The few hints that Netanyahu has given about the subject of his speech have focused on populist, patriotic causes.

In a video posted to social media on Tuesday, Netanyahu took aim at a popular target: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had pledged to arrest him for crimes against humanity before later acknowledging that he lacked the jurisdiction to do so.

Appearing to adopt the posture of a professional wrestler and looking straight into the camera, Netanyahu accused the mayor of supporting Hamas — which Mamdani has strenuously denied — and fomenting riots against New York Jews. He added that he would “tell the truth about you” and “tell the truth about our heroic soldiers.”

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments, Mamdani told a news conference Tuesday that the Israeli military had killed an 11-year-old boy in a zone deemed safe in Gaza, “so that is what I have to say to his video.”

Netanyahu’s mention of Israel soldiers appears to be a reference to “NAZA,” a documentary made by two Israeli filmmakers in which 24 anonymous Israelis, described as military and intelligence officials, talk about the cynical process by which the country’s military evaluated the need for civilian deaths during the Gaza war.

A popular target that has riled Israeli leaders ahead of the elections, “NAZA” has earned plaudits abroad but condemnation at home.

Politicians have stumbled over themselves to publicly condemn the documentary in the harshest terms, with some demanding a criminal investigation into the duo and even that they be stripped of Israeli citizenship.

In another hint on Wednesday night, Netanyahu, who has a history of peppering his General Assembly speeches with props, gags and gimmicks, said his speech would include “surprises.”

Last year, he told the audience that his speech was being broadcast into Gaza through massive loudspeakers and streamed to mobile phones so that Israeli hostages trapped in Gaza could hear him speak.

He also wore an oversized QR code on his jacket, encouraging audiences to activate the code to visit a website with a video showing Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and which sparked the latest round of fighting. Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 75,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials.

In the years before that, Netanyahu brandished regional maps to make his points. Two years ago, he displayed two maps that showed the “blessing” of Israel’s influence contrasted with the “curse” of Iran’s expanding power.

And in 2012, more than a decade before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in what they said was an attempt to keep the Islamic Republic from getting a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu held up a cartoon image of an Iranian nuclear weapon with a “red line” for its maximum enrichment level.

AI Mode Conversation: NATO vs Russia Update

Here is a breakdown of the top news headlines for Thursday, September 24, 2026:

🏛️ White House Press Ban Blocked

A federal district judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from barring journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House. The judge ruled that the administration revoked the hard passes without "constitutionally adequate due process" and failed to provide formally articulated, clear standards of conduct. Media organizations have hailed the decision as a major victory for the First Amendment.

🤝 Trump-Xi Summit Begins

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in the United States for a high-stakes, three-day state visit. In a rare diplomatic gesture, President Trump personally welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. Concurrently, the U.S. Treasury Secretary announced that the bilateral trade truce deferring sweeping tariffs has been extended through January 2027. The summit's agenda centers heavily on global trade, managing rivalry over advanced AI systems, and navigating the ongoing war with Iran.

🌍 Global Conflict & The United Nations

• U.S.-Iran War: At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Trump stated that he faces a monumental decision to either negotiate a deal or "annihilate" Iran. Iranian state media confirmed that lengthy, mediated talks have taken place on the sidelines of the assembly. Meanwhile, escalating threats have caused global oil prices to rise.
• Border Clashes: Pakistan announced it has launched air strikes targeting 10 sites inside Afghanistan after accusing Kabul of coordinating cross-border drone attacks.

⚓ Navy Investigates USS Lincoln Suicide Attempts

The U.S. Navy has confirmed that eight personnel assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during an extended deployment. The disclosure has intensified congressional pressure, with Democrats demanding transparency from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth regarding the deteriorating quality-of-life conditions aboard the vessel.

⚖️ Media Lawsuits Tossed

A federal judge has dismissed President Trump's consumer fraud lawsuit against the Des Moines Register, its parent company USA Today Co., and pollster Ann Selzer. The suit had claimed that an inaccurate pre-election poll constituted fraud, but the court rejected the premise. Trump's legal team has stated they intend to appeal the dismissal.

, which asserts it has orchestrated a massive data breach compromising the personal information of nearly all bureau employees. The hackers claim to have targeted the agency on Monday night, September 21, 2026.

Here is a breakdown of the current situation surrounding the investigation:

📌 Details of the Alleged Breach

• Target and Scale: ShinyHunters claims it breached the FBIJobs.gov portal, pulling down 2 to 3 terabytes of data. They claim to possess personal records on roughly 38,000 personnel—essentially "almost ALL FBI agents"—as well as individuals who have applied for jobs at the bureau.
• Data Compromised: According to the group, the stolen files include names, roles, badge numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, spousal information, and certain medical details. As proof, the hackers shared a sample dataset containing information on roughly 5,000 agents with media outlets.
• Method of Entry: The group states they exploited a new vulnerability within Oracle PeopleSoft, a human resources management program utilized by the system.

💡 Motivation and Demands

In a message addressed directly to FBI Director Kash Patel and Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman, ShinyHunters stated the hack was retaliation for an advisory the FBI posted about the group in May 2026. The FBI's public service announcement characterized the hackers as threat actors who use exaggerated claims to extort companies. Offended by this characterization, the group demanded the removal of the advisory. They have explicitly noted that this specific attack is not financially motivated, and they are not seeking a traditional ransom.

⚠️ The FBI's Current Response

• Active Investigation: The FBI issued a statement confirming they are aggressively looking into the unauthorized activity. They are working alongside third-party IT providers that support the jobs portal to mitigate the risk and officially determine the point of breach.
• Website Offline: The FBIJobs Official Site was intentionally taken offline following the incident and remains unavailable to the public while security reviews are underway.

If you want, I can set up an information agent to monitor this situation as it develops. This will allow me to track updates regarding whether the FBI confirms the full scope of the PII leak, when the FBIJobs portal returns online, or if the hackers begin leaking the data on the dark web. Would you like me to set up an information agent for this?