FBI Director Kash Patel meets with law enforcement in Des Moines

DES MOINES, Iowa — FBI Director Kash Patel hosted a law enforcement leadership meeting with Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird in Des Moines on Monday morning.

The event was held in the Tea Room in downtown Des Moines. Roughly 130 people attended, including police officers, sheriffs, troopers, county attorneys, and more state law enforcement officials.

The meeting was not open to the press, but WHO 13 News was sent two photos from inside the event:

The meeting began with a chat between Bird and Patel, followed by a Q&A from members of the audience. During a press conference after the event, Bird told WHO 13 News that this meeting was the first of its kind.

“It’s very special for us to have the FBI Director, Director Patel, here in Iowa because we don’t think we’ve ever had something like this before in our state. And to have all levels of law enforcement here — police chiefs, sheriffs, state law enforcement, county attorneys — together, working together in partnership with our federal partners, it’s powerful, and it’s a good thing that we’re all able to come together and work together,” she said.

Bird said Patel discussed topics like fraud and scam prevention, human and drug trafficking, and how the federal government can work with state and local law enforcement.

Waukee Police Chief Chad McCluskey, who also serves as the President of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association, said his biggest takeaway from the meeting was that the federal government is working to connect state and local law enforcement officials with ways to recover money for fraud or scam victims.

“That’s huge. Anybody that has been scammed, especially if its a parent or grandparent or somebody, you feel horrible and you want to be able to get those funds back to them. And if we can find a path to do that, working through the federal government and Attorney General Bird’s office, maybe start to get some of those moneys back where they belong, that will be great, and it will be huge for us,” said McCluskey.

Franklin County Attorney Andrea Miller said the event helped bring together different levels of law enforcement.

“Something like today is very helpful to make connections and to see other people who are dealing with the same issues we are. Even though Franklin County is a small county, we deal with these issues, like the scams for sure, human trafficking, and methamphetamine touch all of our counties,” she said during the press conference.

This event was Patel’s first official visit to Iowa. Last year, Patel attended a leadership meeting in Omaha where some Iowa law enforcement officials attended, according to a Facebook post from the Meskwaki Nation Police Department.

Patel is now likely the eleventh member of the federal government to visit Iowa this year alone, showing the spotlight D.C. is placing on the Hawkeye State.

Along with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, several members of the president’s cabinet also came to Iowa in 2026 — including Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

Iowa news

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.