FBI Nominee Patel Accused of Partisanship During Senate Confirmation Hearing
WASHINGTON — FBI director nominee Kash Patel told a Senate committee Thursday he would not target investigations at people for political reasons but avoided directly answering questions about his previous provocative statements.
Patel is President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI and one of his staunchest supporters.
Patel came to his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee with a history of inflammatory remarks on television, social media and podcasts.
During one interview, he said that if he is confirmed as FBI director his first act would be to close down the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and turn it into a museum of the “deep state.”
The deep state sometimes mentioned by Trump is a conspiracy theory referring to a government consisting of secretive and unauthorized networks of power operating independently of the political leadership.
Trump said the deep state headed by Biden administration loyalists used its authority through the Justice Department to target him for prosecution on charges such as election interference, mishandling classified documents and sexual impropriety.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said he was concerned Patel would use the FBI to pursue law enforcement action against Trump’s political enemies.
He quoted a previous statement in which Patel said that if he is chosen as FBI director, “We will go out and find the conspirators, whether it’s in the government or in the media.”
At another point in the hearing, Patel was asked about what he described in a book he wrote as 60 “enemies,” all of whom had been critics of Trump.
Each time, Patel either said he could not remember the statements or that they were taken out of context.
When asked by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., whether FBI agents who investigated Trump would be fired, Patel said, “All FBI agents will be held to the same standard.”
Blumenthal accused Patel of being evasive by not answering the question with a yes or no.
“What are you hiding?” Blumenthal asked.
Patel tried to direct most of his comments at the need to reform the FBI after what he described as failures by previous directors. The FBI operates with about 38,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $9 billion.
He cited a figure without attribution saying that only 40% of Americans trust the FBI.
“It is a cataclysmic failure in leadership,” Patel said.
He also emphasized a need for quick changes to address rising threats created by Muslim extremists and illegal immigration.
“It’s as high as I’ve ever seen,” Patel said about the terrorism risks.
Republicans were more supportive of his nomination, saying they hoped he could resolve the partisan politics that marked the FBI during the Biden administration.
“They have yet to learn a lesson,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Patel he believed he would take the FBI back to its core mission of fighting crime.
“You’re going to lead this agency back to what it should have been,” Schmitt said.
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