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Amy Robach
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.
T.J. Holmes
Hey there, folks. It is Wednesday, May 6, and FBI Director Cash Patel didn't use these exact words, but for the most part, he said that Arizona authorities are a bunch of Keystone cops who essentially bungled the Nancy Guthrie investigation from the beginning. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. Not his exact words, but he didn't leave a whole lot of room for interpretation in what he was saying. And he was saying they screwed up
Amy Robach
from the jump 100%. Cash Patel went, Went on a podcast and blasted Sheriff Nanos, the entire Pima County Sheriff's Department, and said that if the FBI had been let in earlier, that the outcome could have been different. He was essentially saying they could have found evidence sooner, they could have analyzed DNA better, and if those things had happened, maybe we would know where Nancy Guthrie is. That was the implication, for sure.
T.J. Holmes
And again, we say implicate Robes. He was, this is not one. And we assure you, and we'll let you hear and we'll have his exact words. But Robe, this wasn't one of those things where you could leave open. Was he trying to say this or was trying to say that? Look, he was asked about it. This is on Sean Hannity's podcast. He was asked directly about that investigation. And he answered, but Robes, he said from the beginning, this was the first headlines I saw about it was, he said, sheriff Nano's out there kept the FBI out at the beginning of the investigation. And Cash Patel followed up on that. On that.
Amy Robach
That is absolutely correct. He. One of the first things he said that the FBI was sidelined for four days. They were kept out of the investigation. And then he said, and look, when we were finally let in, look what we did. We went in and we got the ring doorbell. And then he went on to praise what the FBI was able to uncover because he personally, he says, called Google authorities to make sure that they could get that image of that masked man. And that certainly was the biggest break in the case. But he's saying it could have come even sooner, which could have made a much bigger. A much big, Sorry, I can't talk. A much better difference. I can't talk.
T.J. Holmes
A huge difference.
Amy Robach
This could have a huge difference.
T.J. Holmes
Well, I mean, every second counted at the beginning of that investigation. And this guy's flat out saying that it's Sheriff Nano's fault that the FBI and all his expertise were kept out of a case in which those first 48 hours were important. Robes, this is a pretty striking allegation. To be saying, given what that case was, given that we still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is. And now, Robes, even before any conclusion of the case, any result. You got the top. Aren't these the two top lead investigators in this thing? It was the FBI and it was Nanos.
Amy Robach
Absolutely.
T.J. Holmes
And these two are one blaming the other for screwing this up.
Amy Robach
Yes. And, I mean, this has got to be devastating. I was thinking. And we'll get into some of the back and forth, because it is pointed and it is concerning, but if you're Nancy Guthrie's family, if you're Savannah Guthrie, if you're her siblings and you're listening to this, this is so painful to hear now, what could have happened, what should have happened, what didn't happen, and what do you gain from this? I don't know, but this is painful. I'm. I'm just hearing it through their. Through their lens. And this has got to be just beyond. Beyond ugly. This is just devastating.
T.J. Holmes
Well, it's. It's that part when you think about the possibilities, if something was actually screwed up at the beginning of the beginning of the investigation, that's devastating enough. But you two guys don't think enough of us to not. To not do this publicly, to not be throwing, like, what's the focus this morning? Robes. We didn't lead with a new lead in the investigation. We're talking about these two guys going at it. That. That part almost seems it. It's a little. It's a disservice to the family. That part's a disservice, absolutely.
Amy Robach
Is when you have Cash Patel saying. When he was basically saying. And look, this certainly is true, that the FBI is the reason why they were able to. Able to secure that image off the surveillance video. But he said that's why you have that image, because the FBI worked with Google to put that image out. We could have gotten that days before. We could have also maybe gotten more data had we been let in earlier.
T.J. Holmes
Is that true?
Amy Robach
This is what the. The director of the FBI is saying. And then he went on. And this is also devastating to criticize the sheriff's department's handling of the physical evidence. He says that the FBI offered to send that DNA evidence to the FBI lab. He even said they had a plane waiting on the tarmac waiting to take that DNA straight to Quantico to let the FBI analyze it. And instead the sheriff said nope and chose a private lab in Florida.
T.J. Holmes
There were questions about that at the time that I. To be honest with you, I never Fully understood. But I take them at their word. It was. Whatever lab they used, it was capable. Okay, fine. But to hear Cash Patel say robes. There was a. You literally just have a plane sitting around with nothing else to do but wait on a DNA sample so they can fly it directly to Quantico to get examined. Okay, I would like to hear a follow up to why that wasn't done.
Amy Robach
Yeah, why wouldn't the Pima County Sheriff's Office have jumped on that opportunity? And he. Look, we. Our eyebrows rose on this one when we heard Cash Patel say this. He said, I launched hundreds of agents and intel staff to Phoenix and Tucson just for this case to be on standby, just. Just to do the canvassing. And we said, we'll take the DNA. And again, it's a state and local matter, so it's their call on where to send the DNA. We have Quantico, the best labs in the world. He said we would have analyzed it within days and maybe gotten better information or more information. Our lab is just better than any other private lab out there, and we didn't get a chance to do that. I understand everybody's frustration.
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T.J. Holmes
I don't know how you answer that. Oh, well, excuse me. I should say now, I don't know how, but we're going to have the response from Sheriff Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff. They do have a response, but hearing that is pretty damning.
Amy Robach
Robes, I just a. I don't understand if this is all true, why the local sheriff's department wouldn't have trusted. Entrusted the FBI with this very important information. And then I just don't understand why the FBI couldn't have convinced the sheriff's department to do it. I don't know how police. Look, we see this depicted in movies and television shows all the time. The local agencies are sparring with the federal agents because they. It's our jurisdiction. I guess those turf wars do exist. But if that is true, that is incredibly sad. To think that maybe perhaps extra information, more important information. Information could have been, I guess, gleaned earlier. That's devastating to hear, Rubs.
T.J. Holmes
It happens on every. And you and I have seen this hundreds of times in our career going to some major story and we go to that press conference and 20 people are lined up to speak because everybody has some jurisdictional point to make while they're up there. But this as much of a national story as this was. This was a local matter. And yes, Pima County Sheriff Thanos was in charge and that's it. The FBI Director doesn't have the right to come in there and say, this is what I'm going to do, and tell you what to do. He doesn't. That's how it works. It doesn't seem like that should be the case. But, yes, as a reminder, folks, that is how these things work. And even if you do have Keystone cops, that's not my accusation. But doesn't matter who they are, how much experience they have, they are in charge of. They can ask for help. And they needed help, Robes, But I can't imagine. But we have seen robes, this jurisdiction, these. These fights over who's in charge. And it's not just a matter of sometimes who's in charge. If things go right, they want to know who's going to get the credit. And then they want to be careful because things go wrong. Who's going to take the blame in this whole group. So, yes, this jurisdictional bull happens on all of these scenes.
Amy Robach
And that's so interesting you say that because taking the credit, that might be why Kash Patel sent hundreds of agents. Because he wanted to be the. You know, the. The. The white knights riding in on their horses, like, saving the day. And then now it's very easy to say when we don't know where Nancy Guthrie is. There has been no real new information. They can say, we were shut out. We wanted to help. They wouldn't let us. And that seems like what is going on right now.
T.J. Holmes
Robes used strangely. Sounded like you were describing politics. That's all this ends up becoming at the end of the day. No matter how big of a story, no matter how much the hearts are breaking of the Guthrie family, it was still important in this moment for Cash Patel to blame the Pima county sheriff for something. Maybe he's frustrated. Maybe he's upset. I don't know. But it's just. You hate to see that this has been set off now.
Amy Robach
You do. And I just. Again, this will be interesting, too, because I see NBC has covered this on their wet on their website, online, but this has got to be tough because this is in the news. Savannah's now on the Today show. She is reading the news aloud. And just. This is one of the biggest stories of the day. Just to know that Kash Patel is airing literally all of law enforcement's dirty laundry regarding her mother's disappearance. I was just thinking how tough these types of news days might be for her. And look, any news is important for her. The main goal is to find Nancy Guthrie. But this infighting and this type of headline is the last thing you want
T.J. Holmes
to see, but it also doesn't bode well for these agencies having a good working relationship moving forward and trying to solve the damn crime. Okay, these two probably don't want to be in a room together at this point. That's and collaboration and the tit for tat and retaliation. We wouldn't be surprised if Cash Patel said, you know I am going to reduce the number of agents I have in Pima county moving forward. Just cuz I'm just saying these little tit for tats it's not no one seems to have the whole the main goal as the main goal which is
Amy Robach
to find 84 year old Nancy Guthrie. So when we come back, we're going to tell you what Sheriff Chris Nanos has said. Yes, he released a statement and I know you won't be surprised to know that he disputes pretty much everything Kash Patel has said. If you're always on the lookout for a great audiobook or just want help figuring out what to listen to next, there's a podcast you should know about.
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Amy Robach
Welcome back everyone, to this episode of Amy and tj. We are discussing the headlines that we didn't want to see regarding Nancy Guthrie. No, there's no new information about where she might be or what happened to her. But we are hearing from the two top law enforcement agents who would be in charge of this investigation. The FBI director, Cash Patel, going after the Pima County Sheriff, Chris Nano, saying that local agency, the Sheriff's Department, did not do what it should have done in those first few days to try and find Nancy Guthrie. Namely, they claim that the local Sheriff's department shut out the FBI didn't take up their offer for help. And that is why the investigation stands where it is today. Easy to say. And look, this is what he's claiming right now. So not shockingly, Sheriff Nano's definitely clapped back a bit. Yeah.
T.J. Holmes
Remind me, Robes, before I forget this. When. When Cash Patel first. When the FBI first got involved. You remember his tweets? I. I saw he. I thought he put some stuff out and was taking credit at the time. It wanted folks to know he was on top of it. I know the president put out something on social media. It was that feeling of, we're swooping in now and here we come.
Amy Robach
Yes.
T.J. Holmes
And we are going to take credit for moving this investigation forward and maybe eventually finding Nancy Guthrie. As you're talking about this now, we're going to give Nano's response. But, Robe, that complete turn. Now, is that what this really is, is shifting blame?
Amy Robach
Yes.
T.J. Holmes
That we want to make. We wanted to make sure we were going to be the heroes if it worked out. Now it doesn't seem to be working out. I should make this statement.
Amy Robach
Yes. We want to let you all know that, yeah, we did swoop in. We did canvas and blanket the area with our agents and our help and our technology and all of this, and they wouldn't let us help.
T.J. Holmes
See, I'm trying to remember. I thought he had some tweets. I know it was going to jog your memory. I thought he's put something out that got attention at the time about his involvement or him.
Amy Robach
He did. And we were kind of like, wow, the FBI director is going. He was even saying he was going to Tucson.
T.J. Holmes
Yes, yes, yes.
Amy Robach
So. And he said he already had a meeting there already. Yes.
T.J. Holmes
You're remembering. Okay. Yes. All that stuff.
Amy Robach
Yes. So he was trying to be the face of this, and I don't think Sheriff Nanos wanted him to be. And I don't think Cash Patel appreciated that very much. And here we are now. But here is what. Look, the Pima County Sheriff's Department put out quite a lengthy statement after Cash Patel made his comment. So here is how it begins. Sheriff Nanos responded to the scene the night of the incident, providing immediate local leadership and oversight. A member of the FBI task force was also notified and present at the scene scene, working alongside our personnel. The FBI was promptly notified by both our department and the Guthrie family. This is my favorite part. While the FBI director was not on the scene, coordination with the bureau began without delay.
T.J. Holmes
I thought that was a nice touch. That was well done. I don't give Them a lot of credit for statements they put out over the past several months. But that one line was fairly brilliant.
Amy Robach
Yes, because it began with Sheriff Nanos reporting to the scene immediately and it ended with the FBI director not being on the scene.
T.J. Holmes
Okay. We're just acknowledging that maybe he's a little confused because he wasn't here.
Amy Robach
That could be it. The statement goes on to say decisions regarding evidence processing were made on scene based on operational needs. The laboratory utilized by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI lab in Quantico have worked in close partnership from the outside of set and continue to collaborate in the analysis of evidence. That seems to fly in the face of what we heard from Kash Patel.
T.J. Holmes
Exactly. And precisely. But it left some room for interpretation as well. They have worked together closely in the past. I didn't exactly.
Amy Robach
They're collaborating in the analysis.
T.J. Holmes
Okay.
Amy Robach
Yes. And then the statement ended with the sheriff saying that the sheriff's department remains committed to a thorough, coordinated and fact based investigation and will continue working closely with our federal partners as the process moves forward.
T.J. Holmes
I mean, that was handled as best as you can. They didn't attack him, but they just kind of defended themselves. They were all. Most put in a position. I think robes. They had to say something. And I think that was well said. It didn't seem personal. It just. All right, you came after our agency. We put this out to defend ourselves, refute what you said and move on.
Amy Robach
Yeah, we were there and you weren't. We know what happened. You don't. That was a little bit of the tone as well. And look, Sheriff Nanos, look, he. And he has been criticized before for not working with the FBI because two weeks into the investigation, he was defending that his office was in fact working with the FBI. He actually put out this statement on February 13th. So she was reported missing February 1st. Two weeks later, he's like, the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff's Department are connected at the hip in case of blocking evidence from the FBI. That's just so far from the truth. So I had forgotten Sheriff Nanos was being accused of not coordinating or cooperating with the FBI from the beginning. So this isn't a new accusation that's been hurled at him. He's been dealing with these accusations, just not directly from the FBI director himself. That brought it to a whole new level this week.
T.J. Holmes
It's the sixth. You probably forgot this. Aren't we a week away from his hearing or something there? They're trying to possibly get him out of office. There because they think he lied on his resume about his personnel history and history of being suspended when he was at a previous police department. All this stuff is now coming. This guy has been at the center of the investigation. But robes. He's been the headline, unfortunately, in this investigation.
Amy Robach
Oh, yes, he is embattled. I guess would be a good way to put it.
T.J. Holmes
That word is overused often. This is a good time for that.
Amy Robach
He is currently embattled. Yes. The Pima County Board of Supervisors is considering removing him from his position based on him, they say, lying under oath and not being truthful about his past disciplinary actions, which led to him being employed by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and ultimately becoming the sheriff himself.
T.J. Holmes
So he's been out there for, what, 40 years? And one of the council members or whatever out there said he's. He's perpetrated a fraud on my community for 40 years. Like, there's people that hate this guy.
Amy Robach
Yes. They want him out. And there will be. I believe it is next week. I'm trying to see, but it is this month.
T.J. Holmes
Yeah.
Amy Robach
He will be potentially removed from his position. So, yes, he is. He's been going through it. The spotlight has been on him. The outcome has not been what anybody wanted. We still don't know where Nancy Guthrie is. We still don't know who took her. She's been missing for more than three months. There are no suspects. There are no persons of interest. And these blood samples that we're hearing Cash Patel talk about, these mixed blood samples that have someone's blood other than. Or DNA other than a close family member, they're apparently going through genetic genealogy scrutiny right now. But the lab analyzing that has reported challenges. So it's speaking to Akash Patel is saying, should have let us do it. Should have let our labs do it. We would have had more success. But by the way, there's still that reward of $1.2 million out there. Not for an arrest. No. For information leading to Nancy's recovery. That is what that money is for. Not even to find the person responsible, but no, just to find where she is. And so we will continue to stay on this case. Unfortunately, not the headlines the Guthrie family was hoping for today. But with that, thank you for listening to us, everyone. I'm Amy Robach alongside T.J. holmes. We will talk to you soon. If audiobooks are your thing or you've been meaning to listen to more of them, you should check out a podcast called earsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club, hosted by KAL Penn.
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Podcast Summary: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present Episode: Kash Patel Accuses Sheriff Of Bungling Nancy Guthrie Investigation (May 6, 2026)
In this episode, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes cover the growing public feud between FBI Director Kash Patel and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos over the handling of the high-profile disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. The episode focuses on Patel’s striking criticisms — aired on Sean Hannity’s podcast — alleging that local authorities mismanaged the earliest and most critical days of the investigation. Robach and Holmes provide analysis, discuss the implications for Guthrie’s family, and review the official response from Sheriff Nanos.
Patel’s Accusations
Quotes
The hosts express deep concern for the impact on the Guthrie family—and specifically Savannah Guthrie—having to witness this level of public disagreement and blame-shifting at such a painful time (03:07, 09:27).
Amy Robach: “The main goal is to find Nancy Guthrie. But this infighting and this type of headline is the last thing you want to see...” (09:27).
Discussion about the negative effect of institutional finger-pointing, with the media focus shifting from investigative progress to law enforcement squabbles (03:41).
The hosts explore the dynamics of “turf wars” between federal and local authorities, suggesting that credit and blame play an outsized role in who leads major criminal cases (07:23-08:33).
T.J. Holmes: “If things go right, they want to know who’s going to get the credit... and then they want to be careful because things go wrong, who’s going to take the blame” (07:23).
They suggest that self-preservation and politics are driving much of the current discord, especially amid the lack of progress in the case (08:59).
The episode illuminates the fraught dynamic between local and federal law enforcement during high-stakes investigations and highlights the collateral damage—both personal and procedural—when public infighting overtakes collaborative crime-solving. The hosts emphasize the pain this causes for the Guthrie family and underscore the urgent, still-unmet need to find answers in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance.