FBI Director Kash Patel clashes with skeptical Democrats at contentious Senate hearing

WASHINGTON: FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with skeptical Democrats at a contentious Senate oversight hearing Tuesday, defending his record amid criticism that he has politicized the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency and pursued retribution against perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump.

The appearance Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee represented the first oversight hearing of Patel’s young but tumultuous tenure and provided a high-stakes platform for him to try to demonstrate that he is the right person for the job at a time of internal upheaval and mounting concerns about political violence inside the United States, a threat laid bare by last week’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college campus in Utah.

The hearing broke along starkly partisan lines, with Republicans rallying support for Patel even as Democrats said he had debased the integrity of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency. Patel, for his part, accused Democrats of grandstanding for cameras and looking to score political points in a series of testy shouting matches that punctuated more sedate testimony about the criminal and national security threats facing the US

“You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate, you are a disgrace to this institution and you are an utter coward,” Patel told Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California, raising his voice during one particularly combative interaction.

“You can make an Internet troll the FBI director, but he will always be an Internet troll,” Schiff shot back as Patel continued to shout over him.

Patel sought to keep the focus on what he said was a series of accomplishments in fighting violent crime, protecting children from abuse and disrupting the flow of fentanyl. He similarly touted the FBI’s work in arresting within 33 hours the man suspected in Kirk’s assassination, but also faced questions over confusion he caused soon after the killing when he posted on social media that “the subject” was in custody.

That person was later released after investigators determined he had no connection. Patel said he had been trying to be transparent with the public and didn’t consider the post a mistake, but acknowledged he could have been clearer.

“Could I have been more careful in my verbiage and included ‘a’ subject instead of subject? Sure,” Patel said.