Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Kash Patel in the first formal hearing on his nomination for director of the FBI.
Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) set the tone for Republicans in his opening statement. He said he hoped that Patel would bring greater accountability to the agency that he may soon lead.
“Either you’re going to run your agency, or the agency’s going to run you,” he told Patel.
The Jan. 30 meeting also included many tense exchanges between Patel and Democrats over his competence, past statements, and independence from President Donald Trump.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told the nominee that his “mission now has been to go after people”—a charge that Patel denied.
1. Vows No Retribution, No ‘Enemies List’
Democrats suggested that Patel could target opponents of the Trump administration, particularly those who were in conflict with the president during his first term.Yet the nominee repeatedly stated that he did not intend to take such steps, including against former FBI Director Christopher Wray.
“I have no interest, no desire, and will not, if confirmed, go backwards,” Patel told Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who asked about his past statements saying Wray’s alleged past lawbreaking warranted prosecution.
“There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI should I be confirmed as the FBI director.”
Patel also told multiple senators that he did not have an “enemies list.”
Democrats say that those identified as “members of the executive branch deep state” in Patel’s book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy” amount to such a list.
The term “enemies list” recalls President Richard Nixon’s reputed list, compiled by his adviser Charles Colson and revealed during the Senate Watergate hearings.
Patel told Klobuchar that the term “enemies list” was a “total mischaracterization” of the collection of names at the end of his 2023 book.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked whether he would fire FBI agents involved in special counsel Jack Smith’s inquiry into Trump.
“Every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard, and no one will be terminated for cases like this,” Patel said.
“I’m not going to accept that answer,” Blumenthal responded. “Because if you can’t commit that those FBI agents will be protected from political retribution, we can’t accept you as FBI director.”
2. Condemns Weaponization of Justice
In exchanges with Republican lawmakers, the nominee repeatedly stressed his commitment to fighting the weaponization of the FBI and other elements of law enforcement.
“There should be no politics in the FBI. Having been the victim of weaponization of law enforcement against me, I know what that feels like,” Patel told Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.).
While serving as the House Intelligence Committee’s senior counsel, Patel drew attention to his concerns with that inquiry through his contributions to a 2018 memo alleging FBI misconduct in acquiring a warrant to surveil that campaign.
That memo was issued by then-committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) after Patel visited London in search of Christopher Steele, author of the controversial Steele Dossier opposition report that posited links between Trump’s campaign and the government of Russia.
Graham described Crossfire Hurricane as “one of the most disgusting episodes in FBI history.”
3. Commutations for Violent Jan. 6 Defendants
Patel was also pressed to weigh in on Trump’s pardons and commutations for individuals involved in the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.The nominee repeatedly stressed his opposition to violence directed at law enforcement, including when questioned about clemency for people convicted of violent offenses against police on Jan. 6.
“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” Patel said.
He then questioned President Joe Biden’s commutation of the sentence of Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation during a 1975 shootout. Biden’s move transitions Peltier from prison to home confinement.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who said Jan. 6 protesters in the Capitol were “thugs,” spoke positively of his past dialogue with Patel on the president’s sweeping clemency.
“I’ve had conversations with you that suggest that if you had been consulted on that, we’d have probably had a little bit different structure for the pardons,” Tillis said.
“Do you condemn violence against law enforcement?” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asked Patel.
“All of it,” he responded, saying he agreed with the prosecution of such offenders against police and similar authorities. “Especially if they kill them.”
4. Challenged on J6 Prison Choir Production
Multiple Democrats questioned Patel on his production of “Justice for All,” a charity record featuring Trump and the J6 Prison Choir, which consisted of people imprisoned in connection with the U.S. Capitol breach.Released on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast, “Justice for All” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s chart for Digital Song Sales.
Patel told Blumenthal that he did not know every member of the choir.
The senator questioned Patel about his knowledge of Julian Khater, a participant in the song who pleaded guilty to spraying pepper spray into the face of U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Sicknick died on Jan. 7, 2021, of natural causes, according to an autopsy.
“You’re saying now you don’t know who he is?” Blumenthal asked.
“I’m not familiar with his case,” Patel said, reiterating the answer when asked about other members of the choir convicted of acts of violence against law enforcement.
“I’ve never once advocated for political violence or violence against law enforcement,” Patel said, later emphasizing his commitment to depoliticizing the FBI.
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) also questioned Patel about “Justice for All.” Patel repeatedly stated that he did not record the album.
Schiff insisted that Patel look behind him at U.S. Capitol Police guarding the proceedings.
“I’m looking at you. You’re talking to me,” Patel replied.
“Tell them you’re proud of what you did,” Schiff said.
5. Pledges to Investigate Epstein, Sex Trafficking
Patel told Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) that he would aid her work on identifying the parties involved in deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking activities.“Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America, and I will do everything if confirmed as FBI director to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past,” Patel said.
Special interest aliens are those originating from Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, and other countries that pose significant counterintelligence and national security risks for the United States.
Patel said Homeland Security Investigations would take the lead but that the FBI could assist substantially in identifying prospective deportees who have already been imprisoned.
“If I’m confirmed, the full resources of the FBI, where appropriate, will be committed to that cause—but I believe primacy rests with other agencies,” he told Britt.
