Trump’s FBI director nominee faced questions over Jan. 6, Crossfire Hurricane, and whether he would seek revenge.
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.
Here are five takeaways from the contentious confirmation hearing.
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.”
“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel said.
