Kash Patel Senate Confirmation Hearing - The Highlights

This is a transcript of an edit of Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing on January 30, 2025. I’ve cut five and a half hours down to about 54 minutes.

Last week he was confirmed by the Senate as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Two Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joined all 47 members of the Democratic Caucus in voting against the nomination for a final vote of 49-51.

He’s peddled in conspiracy theories, created an enemies list of various political figures he wants to target, sold snake oil remedies for COVID and helped coordinate the January 6th choir made up convicted criminals who stormed our capitol on January 6th, 2021.

Patel is a complete disaster who still refuses to concede that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.

This edit features Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary committee.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Durbin: My question to you, though, is, do you think America is safer because President Trump issued these pardons to 1600 of these criminal defendants, many of whom violently assaulted our police in capital?

Patel: Senator, America will be safe when we don't have 200,000 drug overdoses in two years, America will be safe when we don't have 52,050 homicides in a day .

Durbin: You just won't answer the question. Tell me about your J6 choir. What is that?

Patel: Well, it's not my choir. It's simply a recording that was utilized to, raise funds for families in need of nonviolent offenders.

Durbin: Who sings on this recording?

Patel: I don't know, Senator.

Durbin: What did you have to do with it?

Patel: Simply to raise funds to assist families of nonviolent offenders whose kids needed college education payments and whose rent needed being paid.

Durbin: My understanding is that the performers on this J6 choir were the rioters who are in prison.

Patel: I'm not aware of that, sir. I didn't have anything to do with the recording.

Durbin: You weren't aware of who made the recording?

Patel: No. Senator.

Durbin: That's interesting. Mr. Patel, you frequently associated with and sometimes praised extremist figures with the well-documented histories of racism, anti-Semitism, conspiracies. In the wake in September of 2023, you appeared with Laura Loomer at an event promoting your book. This one here.

(Durbin’s staffer displayed photo of Patel holding Laura Loomer’s book while she held his. Both of them smiled broadly)

Durbin: You shared a photo of yourself and Loomer in which you held her book, and she held yours. Just a few months before this event, Miss Loomer posted on X that the September 11th terrorist attacks were, quote, an inside job. Around that time, she accused Florida's First Lady Casey DeSantis, of exaggerating her cancer diagnosis to gain voter sympathy. And never my Republican colleagues on this committee have criticized Muslim extremism. One of my colleagues described her as a, “crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage.” Another called her “really toxic,” giving all this, why did you associate with Miss Loomer?

Patel: Senator, as you can see, I took a photograph with an individual who had showed up at a book event. I don't believe I'm guilty by association, and I certainly don't believe that individual who was the first minority to serve as a deputy director of national intelligence for this country is a racist in any way. And I detest any conjecture to the contrary.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Whitehouse: I remember January 6th colleagues running through our halls to flee the mob, colleagues shouting that rioters should be shot, us returning to our constitutional business through hallways cleared for us by automatic weapons carrying SWAT teams. None of you, none of us said those violent rioters should be pardoned. A Republican colleague said such pardons would be hard to believe, even absurd. Your former colleague J.D. Vance said the violent rioters should not be pardoned. Even Jim Jordan said pardons would, and, I quote, focus on all the people who didn't commit any violence. Well, Trump pardoned all of them. And there's a lesson in that. Every time you think Trump would never go that far - rethink that. We all seem to agree that violence against police is unacceptable. Yet more than 600 people who physically attacked Capitol Police officers were just put back on the street. Part of a 1500 person personal Trump army now out there with people who have proven themselves willing to do violence on Trump's call. In only ten days, some are already back committing crimes. We've also tried as a committee together to address the dangers of illicit drug sales over the internet. And I assume we're all against murder for hire. But Trump also just pardoned a dark web operator sentenced to life in prison for trafficking illegal drugs online, and accused of soliciting murders for hire. Those pardons, as Mr. Patel has said, are a mistake. But they are also a signal that we are entering a strange and dangerous time. That is the context for today's hearing.

Whitehouse: Warnings that the FBI could become Trump's enforcer. Use the powers of law enforcement to stifle speech and dissent. Punish political rivals of either party and hand out free passes. Get out of jail free cards to violent supporters. Are warnings we should heed. Here are some warnings of this nominee's Trump administration colleagues. Former Attorney General Bill Barr said, “this nominee has virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency. And we would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day to day operations of the Bureau.” That's for the deputy position. Former CIA Director Gina Haspel was reported threatening to resign rather than have this nominee serve under her. John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, said I didn't think he was qualified. I was forced to hire him. Trump's deputy national security adviser, the nominee's former supervisor, said his ideas are ludicrous. He's absolutely unqualified for this job. He's untrustworthy, and it's an absolute disgrace to even consider an individual of this nature. That's from Republican appointees who worked with him. And here's what this nominee himself has said about using his office to prosecute journalists. We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly. Is that a correct quotation, Mr. Patel?

Patel: Senator, that's a partial quotation.

Whitehouse: But it's correct.

Patel: In part.

Whitehouse: Regarding his publication of his enemies list. Mr. Patel proclaimed, the man hunt starts tomorrow and reposted a video depicting him taking a chainsaw to his political enemies. Is that you? Kash Patel Retrouve reposting that at the top of that page.

Patel: Senator, I had nothing to do with the creation of that meme.

Whitehouse: Is that you reposting? It was my.

Patel: That's me at the top.

Whitehouse: You said FBI agents were responsible for the violence. On January 6th. And I quote you here beyond a reasonable doubt. Is that what you said?

Patel: That's completely incorrect, and I appreciate the opportunity to address.

Whitehouse: I'll give you a lot in writing, but this is my time now.

Patel: Have at it.

Whitehouse: An inspector attorney general investigation found that that was false. And you said we should impeach judges who rule against Donald Trump, who are, in your words, political terrorists. When this nominee tries to explain all this away. Keep one thing in mind. He's testified under oath before a Colorado judge who presided over a Trump case in which he was a witness. And the judge found, and I'm quoting here, he was not a credible witness. His testimony is not only illogical, but completely devoid of any evidence in the record. That's from a judge.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Klobuchar: You said that Donald Trump has every right to tell the world that in 2020, 2016, and every other election in between was rigged by our government because they were yes or no. Did you say that?

Patel: I don't have that statement in front of me.

Klobuchar: Okay. That was from August 27th, 2023. ThriveTime show. I'll put it on the record. These claims made in that statement were rejected by courts, including by Republican judges. Is that correct?

Patel: I don't have enough of the facts in front of me to make that.

Klobuchar: I will put that statement on the record. But I think everyone in this committee, including the Republican members, know that these statements were rejected by courts. You were asked about the police officers in the Capitol who testified in the January 6th hearings, and you accused them of lying. Is that correct or not correct?

Patel: I don't think that's accurate.

Klobuchar: Okay, Joe Pags podcast March 2024. We'll put it on the record. I was there. The police officers were heroes that day. Yes. Did you post on your personal social media account in May of 2024 “January 6th. Never an insurrection. Cowards in uniform exposed. They broke the chain of command.”

Patel: I believe you're referencing a post that was shown in part earlier. I don't have it in front of me.

Klobuchar: You posted it and it was on your account. And we will again put that out there once more as we go on. I don't want to lose any more time on this, but every one of these, there is a record of it. And you haven't answered. You promoted a Covid vaccine reversal or detox supplement. One scientist said, I quote, none of these substances in any form would minimize side effects from a Covid- 19 vaccine. That is preying on innocent people. Did you perform clinical trials before you made that claim?

Patel: I'm not a doctor, so no.

Klobuchar: But you did promote the supplement and told people that it would reverse or mitigate the the side effects from Covid vaccine.

Patel: Did I give people an opportunity to make an independent choice for what's best for their families? Yes.

Klobuchar: You did that last year. Correct?

Patel: I don't have it in front of me again, Senator.

Klobuchar: Mr. Patel, the FBI tackles some of the most complex threats that we face. Terrorists, hostile foreign powers, violent gangs, fentanyl, criminal organizations. Your mission, though, has been to go after people. I've looked at it. I've read this stuff. Yes or no? When Trump wins. Did you say this? When Trump wins in 2024 and is in power in 2025, we can prosecute them. Referring to Justice Department officials for an actual RICO statue violation for criminally organizing the United States government to break the law to rig presidential elections. Did you say that? Yes or no?

Patel: And, Senator, you're reading a partial statement, so I'm unable to fully respond.

Klobuchar: One of the names on your list was Bill Barr. You, Chairman Grassley has called him one of the most capable cabinet officials I've ever been able to vote for. Senator Graham has said I have nothing but total respect and admiration for the job done by William Barr as Attorney General of the United States. Is Bill Barr on your list of whatever you want to call them? You know, what’s been referred to as an enemies list. You've called them deep state after serving his country as the attorney general of the United States. Is he on your list because of a personal vendetta?

Patel: Well, it's not whatever we want to call it. Senator, with all due respect, it's not an enemies list. That is a total mischaracterization.

Klobuchar: I ask you, I actually use the words you use for the list, which was deep state, right? That's what you put at the top.

Patel: There is a glossary in the back.

Klobuchar: Against the attorney general of the United States. Is it because of a personal vendetta that he's on the list? You're under oath.

Patel: I have no personal vendetta against Bill Barr.

Klobuchar: Okay, he said about you, you would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day to day operations of the Bureau. That was actually in writing in his book. He had virtually about, you know, experience that would qualify you to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency. And that your appointment is noted by Senator Durbin as deputy director to the FBI. What happened over his dead body? Is it yes or no? Why you would put him on the list of deep state? As a former attorney general, Trump, attorney general of the United States, because he wouldn't break the law for Donald Trump. Is that why?

Patel: Absolutely not.

Klobuchar: As you know, he repeatedly told the president in no uncertain terms that he did not see evidence of fraud that would have affected the outcome of the election. Did you say in February of 2021 that the election stuff was never my job? And I stayed all of it all I stayed out of that stuff.

Patel: Again, I don't know what comment you're referring to, but I'm sure you're reading a piece of this.

Klobuchar: You said you set it on Push Back on a podcast. Is it true, though, that in December of 2020, you reached out to the Trump acting deputy attorney general and asked him to investigate a conspiracy theory, claiming that people in Italy had used military technology and satellites to remotely tamper with voting machines in the U.S. and switch votes for Trump from Biden to from Trump to Biden. Is that true?

Patel: What was the date?

Klobuchar: That was out of December of 2020.

Patel: I was chief of staff to the Department of Defense, so I don't believe that's accurate.

Klobuchar: Anything that came out of testimony before Congress, I will give it to you. Have you referred to the media as the most powerful enemy of the United States that they have ever seen? Is that right?

Patel: Again, you're reading a quote. I take it.

Klobuchar: CPAC 2/23/24 you said we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig the elections. We're going to come after you, whether it's criminally or civilly. Is that something you said?

Patel: That's a partial statement of what I said.

Klobuchar: Steve Bannon's podcast, you also said you would put the entire fake News Mafia press corps on your list. Is that correct? Is that what you said?

Patel: I don't have that in front of me.

Klobuchar: Benny Johnson podcast 8/21/23. You have said that the FBI, including today, you said that they remain utterly corrupt. This is an agency with agents who have taken down terrorists, taken down bank robbers, taken down crime. And you wrote that the FBI has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken. Do you know that under Chris Ray's leadership, he took over at a very difficult time. We all know that appointed by President Trump, that the during his tenure, the applications to the FBI has in fact tripled. Do you think people would be applying to that agency, like in those numbers, if they thought it was so corrupt?

Patel: The American public's trust in it is that 40%. That's an all time low.