MSNBC panel cracks up as FBI's Kash Patel goes MIA in Epstein saga: 'Witness protection?'

It was just seven months ago that FBI Director Kash Patel revealed to podcast host Joe Rogan that there was over a gigabyte of information available around the investigation of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Now Patel has disappeared, joked a panel of political and legal commentators on MSNBC.

"Deadline: White House" host Nicolle Wallace recalled that Patel told Republicans in Congress to "put your big-boy pants on and tell us who the pedophiles are."

In her frustration, she asked how he's "managed to disappear?"

When Political analyst John Heilemann recalled that the FBI runs a witness protection program, Wallace burst out laughing: "Maybe he and Dan Bongino—"

"Yeah, he and Dan Bongino are like, 'Hey this could be some useful technology for us right now. You go into the witness.' It's probably like living in Arizona someplace."

"They always go to Arizona!" Wallace agreed.

"I just can't help but think about this — Trump saying this is now a dead issue. I'm sorry, I don't know where those guys are. They are clearly like, laying low. The 'dead issue' thing just made me think, as we sit here on the eve of the release of the 'Spinal Tap' sequel, reminds me of another movie by that great director Rob Reiner, 'The Princess Bride,' where Miracle Max, played by Billy Crystal, says that Prince Wesley, 'He might look dead, but he's not dead. He's only mostly dead, which means he's slightly alive.' I think this story is definitely in the category," said Heilemann.

"No one in their right mind who has looked at the historical record of public record doesn't already know that Donald Trump had a very close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein for a very long time," he added, noting that there wasn't much "new" that came out of the info released thus far from the files.

"And that they said a lot of scummy stuff to each other. There's just — you look at the — the pictures speak a thousand words — of them, the way that they're leering at these women on the dance floor, all of that stuff. What do we learn? Anything hugely important? No. What we learned mostly is that there's probably a lot more where that came from," Heilemann said.

See the clip below or at the link here.

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