An exclusive scoop by the newspaper Insider reports that billionaire Peter Thiel is or was, an informant for the FBI. Allegedly, the Silicon Valley kingpin began collaborating with the Bureau in 2021. Sources say that Thiel was working with agents who specialized in political corruption and foreign influence in electoral campaigns, primarily through an LA-based agent named Johnathan Buma.
Business Insider states that a longtime associate of Thiel’s, Charles Johnson, says he helped recruit the billionaire by introducing him to Buma. This was corroborated by a source that remains anonymous, and Insider was able to confirm that the FBI added Thiel to its formal roster of registered informants. According to the FBI, only people who are capable of providing “valuable information on a recurring basis” are granted the status of “Confidential Human Source” (CHS).
Thiel has been a vocal advocate in petitioning the federal government to investigate Chinese influence in American tech, primarily in regard to Google. Charles Johnson maintains that Thiel’s involvement with the FBI doesn’t go further than focusing on foreign intervention in the world of Silicon Valley. Johnson, however, is a vocal member of the far-right and would be reluctant to acknowledge foreign-backed influence within his movement. At the end of the day, the true scope of Thiel’s involvement and collaboration with the FBI are known only to him and the Bureau.
In 2016, Thiel endorsed Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention and was a megadonor throughout his campaign. After Trump’s election victory, Thiel served as a member of his transition team. A source close to Thiel says that any potential collaboration with the FBI should be viewed as part of Thiel’s efforts to gradually distance himself from the Trump-led MAGA movement.
Thiel-funded conservative candidates later went on to attack and criticize the practices of the FBI, two of the most vocal being J.D. Vance of Ohio and Blake Masters from Arizona. Vance railed against the Bureau following the prosecution of the former president, and Masters has long espoused the conservative conspiracy that it was undercover FBI agents that were to blame for the events of January 6th. Thiel split $40m evenly among the two of them.
Citing his displeasure at the Republican Party’s focus on hot-button U.S. cultural issues, Thiel has decided to sideline himself in the upcoming 2024 election; sources close to him say he isn’t planning to fund any candidate.
Thiel is involved in a plethora of companies that work closely with the federal government, he owns 10% of Palantir, a data company that primarily caters to governmental agencies like the CIA, NSA, FBI, and the Pentagon. In September Palantir won a $250 million contract with the US Army.
