By Steve Neavling
FBI Director Kash Patel faced tough questioning from Democrats at a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, defending his record amid accusations he has politicized the bureau and retaliated against agents seen as adversaries of President Donald Trump.
The hearing, Patel’s first since becoming director, came days after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah. Republicans rallied around Patel, while Democrats accused him of undermining the agency, the Associated Press reports. Patel repeatedly dismissed the criticism as political theater.
“You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate, you are a disgrace to this institution and you are an utter coward,” Patel shouted at Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Schiff responded, “You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be an internet troll.”
Patel highlighted the bureau’s efforts to fight violent crime, protect children, and disrupt fentanyl shipments. He also pointed to the arrest within 33 hours of a suspect in Kirk’s killing, though he was pressed about a social media post that mistakenly suggested the wrong man was in custody.
“Could I have been more careful in my verbiage and included ‘a’ subject instead of subject? Sure,” Patel said.
Democrats pressed Patel over the recent firings of senior agents, accusing him of breaking a pledge not to retaliate.
“I’m not going to mince words: You lied to us,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Patel rejected that claim, saying, “Anyone that is terminated at the FBI, as I’ve said before, is done so because they failed to meet the standards and uphold their loyalty and oath to the Constitution.”
A lawsuit filed last week by three of the fired agents alleges Patel carried out “likely illegal” dismissals at the White House’s direction. Patel denied taking orders.
“I believe that you’re failing as a leader and that your failure does have serious implications for the safety and security of Americans and our families,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., told Patel. “We’re more vulnerable to domestic and foreign attack because of your failures of leadership.”
