Patel faced the Senate Judiciary Committee at his Thursday confirmation hearing.
At Kash Patel’s hearing to lead the FBI, Democrats questioned him about past comments that raise concerns about his loyalty to the president, such as when he described January 6th rioters as “political prisoners” and called for a purge of anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and media.
Patel insisted that he does not have an “enemies list”, and that the FBI under his leadership would not seek retribution against the president’s adversaries or launch investigations for political purposes.
Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee, “I have no interest nor desire and will not, if confirmed, go backwards. There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by the FBI.” Patel defended his past comments, saying that Democrats were putting them in a “grotesque context.”
He called the suggestion that he had an “enemies list” was a “total mischaracterization”. He authored a book in 2023 that includes a list of former government officials he says are part of the deep state.
Patel said at his hearing, “The only thing that will matter if I’m confirmed as a director of the FBI is a de-weaponized, de-politicized system of law enforcement completely devoted to rigorous obedience to the Constitution and a singular standard of justice.”
He assured Democrats at the hearing that the FBI would operate independently from the White House.
When questioned by Senator Dick Durbin about Trump’s sweeping pardon of January 6th rioters, Patel responded, “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.”
Durbin said the nation “needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances.”
Patel is a former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and a former federal prosecutor who served in Trump’s first administration.
If confirmed, Patel would succeed Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump more than seven years ago but was removed after the President reportedly did not find him to be doing the job well.
