Capitol Hill has been buzzing all week with confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s controversial nominees, including that of Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who supposedly is too much of a “conspiracy theorist” to be the director of the FBI.
At least that’s the narrative coming from those who opposed his confirmation Thursday.
Durbin’s Doubts
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking member Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) pulled no punches. Patel, he said, doesn’t have the temperament, experience, or the judgment to lead the FBI. He’s too loyal to Trump to be impartial and too much of a believer in “conspiracy theories” to be confirmed.
Durbin brought up Patel’s book Government Gangsters as proof of his disqualifying qualities. He cited Patel’s list of 60 Deep State members and feigned indignation at its inclusion of “distinguished public servants who’ve dedicated their lives to our nation.” He implied that belief in a “Deep State” constitutes a conspiracy theory in itself, an interesting comment from someone who in 2023 advocated for the admittance of illegals immigrants into the U.S. military — proving correct, at least in part, the cooky conspiracy theorists who warned there would be an effort to move illegals into the military for the ultimate purpose of using it against the American people.
Durbin, ever the reliable party loyalist, made the case for Patel’s disqualification by citing Republican opposition to Patel, including from former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, former Trump Security Advisor John Bolton, and Trump Deputy National Security Advisor Charles Kupperman. He also tried to make the case that Biden’s DOJ didn’t weaponize the FBI because it kept Christopher Wray, a Republican appointed by Trump, as director. This is a common Uniparty tactic and reminder why it’s important for Trump to keep out obstructionists whose goal is to perpetuate the current order.
Close It Down?
Democrats also didn’t like that Patel said he’d like to shut down the FBI’s headquarters building and turn it into a Deep State museum. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was among those who brought this up. She asked Patel outright if he said that. Patel said:
If the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI. I stood with them here in this country in every theater of war we have. I was on the ground in service of this nation and any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair. And I will have you reminded that I have been endorsed by over 300,000 law enforcement officers to become the next director of the FBI. Let’s ask them.
J6 Ties
There were multiple attempts to paint Patel as anti-law enforcement. Durbin cited a social media post from January 6, 2021, in which Patel said “January 6, never an insurrection. Cowards in uniform exposed.” Durbin alleged the comment was about the capitol police, D.C. police, and any other police on the ground. But Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley shortly afterward clarified that Patel was attacking senior Pentagon leadership for failing to mobilize the National Guard and bring order that day. “His comments had nothing to do with police,” Grassley emphasized.
Trump’s pardons of nearly 1,600 J6’ers served as another opportunity for Democrats to pin Patel, who has been a vocal defender of J6’ers. “Was Donald Trump wrong to give blanket clemency to the January 6 defendants?” Durbin asked.
Patel’s answer:
I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement, including any violence against law enforcement on January 6 and I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.
Durbin grilled the nominee about his involvement with the recording of the “J6 choir,” referring to the singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” by J6’ers while behind bars. Patel told the committee the recording was used to raise money for families of nonviolent offenders.
Law-enforcement Background
Patel is a former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice. He served as chief of staff to acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller, and senior advisor to acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, both during Trump’s first term. He also led the interagency team that took down ISIS. But Patel is known for his work in exposing the FBI’s illegal surveillance operation of Trump, known as Crossfire Hurricane. He worked as a staff member for the House Intelligence Committee during Trump’s first term, and he was the main author of the committee’s memo detailing FBI and DOJ abuses of the FISA process in obtaining a surveillance warrant of Trump campaign staffer Carter Page. This work helped expose the conspiracy by the intelligence community to convince the public that Trump colluded with the Russians to win the election in 2015.
Bad Actors
Near the end of the hearing, Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) rattled off a series of FBI leadership actions that further discredited the century-old agency. It started with former Director James Comey, Kennedy said, who publicly investigated the political nominee of both major parties, Trump and Hillary Clinton. “[That] hurt that agency more than I’ll ever know. I wouldn’t put Mr. Comey in charge of a ham sandwich.” He also cited the damage done by former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, as well as that of the prosecutor who tried to slip by a misdemeanor deal for Hutner Biden. Attorney General Merrick Garland was not exempt:
For the first time in the history of ever, Attorney General Garland chose to prosecute a former president of the United States. And this part is really special. He did it after the former president of the United States announced that he would be a candidate against his boss. Forget the merits. We can argue those all day long. You understand the perception? It’s got to end now. The seal has been broken. We’ve got to stop it now. Don’t go over there an burn down that agency. You go over there and lift it up. Clean it out, but lift it up in accordance with due process and the rule of law.
Visionary
Earlier in the hearing, Patel presented the committee with his vision for the FBI. He said he would focus on the Bureau’s core mission, to investigate fully wherever there is a Constitutional factual basis to do so. According to Patel, “The priority of the FBI, if I’m confirmed, will be to ensure that our communities are protected and safeguarded and our children have parks to play in and not needles to walk over.”
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