FBI Director nominee Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing was expected to be a raucous affair, and it certainly did not disappoint in this regard.
From the moment President Donald Trump announced Patel’s nomination, controversy erupted. Democrats howled about Patel’s past comments about the Bureau, the 2020 election, and his support of the J6ers.
The confirmation hearing was no different.
During Patel’s opening statement, he recounted how his father fled Uganda under dictator Idi Amin’s oppressive regime. He discussed how his family later came to the United States.
We were raised in a household of my father's seven siblings, their spouses, and at least half a dozen children. That's the only way we knew how to do things at the time in the '70s and '80s, the Indian way. But we would soon learn the American way. These values have shaped and been the driving force of my career in 16 years of government's service.
The nominee further stated that “Protecting the rights of the Constitution is of the utmost importance to me and has been every single time I’ve taken that oath of office.”
Patel vowed that if he is confirmed, he “will remain focused on the FBI’s core mission, that is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional factual basis to do so and to never make a prosecutorial decision that is solely the providence of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General.”
Full opening statement of President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, Kash Patel:
— America (@america) January 30, 2025
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) began his remarks with a bit of levity, brandishing a “Kash Bingo Card” that included several terms he expected to be used by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some of these included “Carter Page, “pardons, “ QAnon,” “Bill Barr,” and several others.
“Some may view this as an unserious caricature and not appropriate for this committee,” Tillis said. “Sadly, I consider it a serious caricature of what I expect to be witnessed today.”
He wasn’t wrong. Many of those topics came up throughout the proceedings. Indeed, Tillis noted that he had “already exed out four boxes in the opening statements alone.”
Thom Tillis: "I created a Kash bingo card...Some may view this is an unserious caricature and not appropriate for this committee...I've already X'd out four boxes in the opening statements alone." pic.twitter.com/BRLXAwVb2W
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 30, 2025
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked Patel, an Indian American, whether he had been subjected to racism. The nominee confirmed that he had.
“If you look at the record from January 6th, where I testified before that committee, because of my personal information being released by the Congress, I was subjected to a direct and significant threat on my life. And I put that information in the record. I had to move,” he said.
Patel said he was called a “detestable sand n*gger who had no right being in this country” and was told that he should “go back to where you came from.”
Kash Patel: "Because of my personal information being released by Congress, I was subjected to a direct and significant threat on my life...I was called...a detestable...sand n****r who had no right being in this country...That's nothing compared to what the men and women in law… pic.twitter.com/S8eMI2Ot6P
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 30, 2025
Graham used his time to give a primer on the last ten years of FBI corruption. He highlighted Patel’s role in exposing the FBI’s operation Crossfire Hurricane, in which agents sought to deceive the nation into believing Trump had collaborated with the Russian government to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
Lindsey Graham's full line of questioning of Kash Patel puts the FBI's corruption on FULL DISPLAY!
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 30, 2025
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Patel also sparred with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), who can never resist the temptation to grandstand. She began by asking her favorite question: Whether Patel had ever sexually assaulted anyone.
Of course, Patel answered in the negative while appearing to be stifling a laugh – or vomit. It’s too hard to tell which.
Is Kash stifling back a laugh? 😂 It would be really difficult not to laugh in Mazie Hirono’s face with this line of questioning.
— Nikki M. Johnson, MD, DNBPAS ⚕ (@notaproviderMD) January 30, 2025
MAGA pic.twitter.com/rVyPavIzxr
Sen. Sidney Blumenthal (D-IL) stepped in it when he tried unsuccessfully to get a “gotcha” in on Patel with a bizarre “test” of whether the nominee would terminate FBI agents over political bias.
Blumenthal completely ignores Kash Patel's answers and yaps about him "failing."
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) January 30, 2025
There is no point to these hearings other than political theater.
They should just hold a vote and confirm Kash now.pic.twitter.com/XJ2dClBrNv
Democratic senators ganged up to launch the same series of attacks against Patel. Their lines of questioning essentially consisted of “Jan. 6 was bad,” “Patel criticized people on pdocasts,” and “Orange Man Bad.”
Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) tried desperately to goad Patel into revealing details of his testimony before a grand jury in Trump’s classified documents case. Patel refused to take the bait, noting that the transcripts are sealed and that Congress should request access to them as he was not allowed to comment on it publicly.
Patel turned in a masterful performance during the proceedings. He deftly countered Democrats’ attacks while making the case for why he should head the FBI. Republicans repeatedly brought up the issue of FBI corruption and how it was weaponized against Trump and everyday Americans under former President Joe Biden. Patel repeatedly promised to clean up the agency and restore trust.
Indeed, this will be a tall order given that only 41 percent believe the Bureau is doing an “excellent” or “good” job, according to a recent poll. But, judging by Thursday’s proceedings, Kash Patel will soon become the next FBI Director.
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