Good morning.
Before we begin, I’d like to say that our prayers are with the victims and first responders of the horrible tragedy at Reagan National Airport last night. It’s reported that more than 60 souls were on board the plane and helicopter that collided over the Potomac River.
This is a horrible, hard to understand disaster that demands answers. As first responders continue their recovery efforts and as investigators begin their work, Congress will work with the Administration to get to the bottom of this and will keep all of those impacted in our prayers.
Now, I want to welcome everyone to this very important hearing to consider the nomination of Kash Patel to serve as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Congratulations on your nomination, Mr. Patel, and thank you for your willingness to serve.
Before we get started, I want to set out a couple of ground rules. I want everyone here to be able to watch the hearing without obstruction. If people stand up and block the view of those behind them, or speak out of turn, it’s not fair or considerate to others, so officers will immediately remove those individuals.
Now, before I turn to my opening statement, let me explain how we're going to proceed today.
I’ll give my opening remarks, and then I’ll invite Ranking Member Durbin to give opening remarks. Then I’ll call on Senator Tillis to introduce the nominee. After that, Mr. Patel will have a chance to give an opening statement to the Committee.
Following Mr. Patel’s statement, we’ll begin the first round of questions. Each Senator will have an initial seven-minute round for questions. After the first round, we’ll do a second, three-minute round of questions. I ask Members to do their best to adhere to these time limits, so that we can proceed efficiently with the hearing.
I’d like to say at the beginning of this hearing, that I expect Mr. Patel to be treated fairly by my colleagues.
With that, I’ll turn to my opening remarks.
We’re here today to consider the nomination of Kash Patel to serve as the Director of the FBI.
Mr. Patel—thank you for being here today. You’re nominated to one of the most important offices in our country, and it took a lot just to get here today. You’ve submitted over a thousand pages of records to the Committee, thousands of individual interviews, and many hundreds of hours of media. I’d also like to thank your family for coming. I know some of them traveled to be here and I know they are very proud of you.
Public trust in the FBI is low. Only 41% of the American public thinks the FBI is doing a good job. This is the lowest rating in a century. It’s no surprise that public trust has declined in an institution that has been plagued by abuse, a lack of transparency, and the weaponization of law enforcement. Nevertheless, the FBI remains an important, even indispensable institution for law and order in our country.
Mr. Patel, it’ll be your job to restore the public’s trust and return the FBI to its core mission of fighting crime. Your extensive background gives you a unique position to make this happen.
Mr. Patel’s career has been a study in fighting for unpopular but righteous causes, exposing corruption, and putting America First.
For almost a decade, Mr. Patel served as a public defender, defending the constitutional rights of some of the least popular people in the country.
After serving as a public defender, Mr. Patel joined the Department of Justice under President Obama as a counterterrorism prosecutor in the National Security Division. In this role, he investigated and prosecuted many important cases, including the World Cup bombing in Uganda in 2010, for which he received an Award for Excellence.
In 2017, Representative Devin Nunes asked Mr. Patel to join the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to uncover the truth about Russia Gate. And Mr. Patel did uncover the truth.
Through tireless work, Mr. Patel showed that Crossfire Hurricane was based on fraudulent, discredited information paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton Campaign. As reward for his efforts to uncover the truth, mainstream media personally attacked Mr. Patel, and the FBI secretly subpoenaed his records. My staff received similar treatment during our investigation.
The attacks Mr. Patel faced during his work in the House of Representatives are similar to the ones he faces today. I expect that many of these underhanded attacks will be repeated in this hearing.
Mr. Patel has been accused of having an “enemies list.” This is not a fair characterization. As he has stated, “there is no revenge list.” Mr. Patel has identified those he believes have put politics and personal ambition over service to the country. He has called out those who’ve used the institutions like the FBI to achieve their own political ends.
Mr. Patel has said he believes that people who do this should be named, and that Americans deserve transparency so that they can make their own judgment, as they did this last election.
Other attacks against Mr. Patel are similarly unfounded. To take just one example, he’s been accused of jeopardizing hostage rescues. In fact, those allegations have been repeatedly shown to be false smears.
As numerous national security officials have said publicly and on the record, Mr. Patel played a critical role in returning Americans safely home and has done so through hard work and at personal cost to himself.
Mr. Patel has been accused of being unqualified to be the FBI Director. This suggestion ignores his impressive career at the highest levels of government service.
After exposing the Russia Gate scandal in Congress, Mr. Patel served in roles such as Senior Director of Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Chief of Staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense.
Mr. Patel managed large intelligence and defense bureaucracies, identified and countered national security threats, prosecuted and defended criminals. He has done this while fighting for transparency and accountability in the government. Mr. Patel has precisely the qualifications we need at this time.
Mr. Patel, should you be confirmed, you’ll take charge of an FBI in crisis.
Recently, my oversight exposed that the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office was on vacation during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Of course, that also included the Sugar Bowl. Senior personnel should be at their posts, not on vacation, during critical security events.
But, of course, this FBI agent would find it acceptable to do what he did.
In August 2022, at an FBI oversight hearing for this committee, Director Wray decided to leave early. I asked him to stay but he had already made up his mind.
Later, under questioning in November 2022 by Senator Hawley, Director Wray admitted that he left this committee’s hearing early so that he could go on vacation.
These two incidents are examples of the blatant disrespect FBI leadership has shown to this committee and the American people.
In November 2022, I released internal FBI records that my office received pursuant to lawful whistleblower disclosures.
Those records provided data about hundreds of FBI employees who had retired or resigned to avoid discipline. Many of those employees engaged in sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Those records also showed lower-level FBI employees were punished more harshly than senior-level employees.
Over one year later, with no response from the FBI, I asked Director Wray about this at a December 5, 2023, hearing before this committee. He publicly pledged to get me the data I requested in November 2022.
He and his Deputy Director never followed through.
I also questioned Director Wray about improperly classified information relating to Afghan evacuees placed in our country. At that time, approximately 50 evacuees were already deemed potential national security concerns. So, what’s the number now? The public has a right to know.
I’ve also raised concerns about whistleblower disclosures saying that the FBI moved agents from child sex abuse cases to January 6 cases. The FBI under Director Wray never got its priorities straight.
With respect to weaponization, I’d like to turn to a letter I wrote in July 2022. That letter noted that Assistant Special Agent in Charge Thibault was a key official involved in opening the elector case that became Jack Smith’s lawfare.
That’s not supposed to happen. An official at Thibault’s rank and position isn’t supposed to open cases – that’s the job of Special Agents.
For those who don’t remember, Thibault was the anti-Trump agent that violated the Hatch Act for his political conduct on the job.
My letter also noted that Richard Pilger, who ran the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch, was involved in the approval.
In my hand are a series of FBI emails.
The first is an email that Thibault sent to a subordinate agent on February 14, 2022.
He said, “Here is draft opening language we discussed.” The draft opening was attached, and it included material that would later become part of Jack Smith’s elector case.
The second email is a February 24, 2022, email from Thibault to John Crabb, a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, saying, “I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject.” This FBI case would later be codenamed Arctic Frost.
The third email is a February 24, 2022, email from Thibault to John Crabb noting that Attorney General and FBI Director approval will be sought to open the case.
The fourth email is a February 25, 2022, email from Thibault’s subordinate agents saying they added Trump, and others, as a criminal subject to the case. Thibault responded “Perfect.”
The fifth email is a March 22, 2022, email from Thibault emailing a version of an investigative opening for approval. This didn’t include President Trump as a criminal subject.
The sixth email is an April 11, 2022, email from Thibault approving the opening of Arctic Frost.
The seventh email is an April 13, 2022, email from an FBI agent to Thibault stating that the FBI Deputy Director approved its opening.
The eighth email on that same date had Thibault emailing John Crabb that the elector case was approved. Crabb responded, “Thanks a lot. Let’s talk next week.”
Between March 22 and April 13, other versions of the document opening the investigation existed, because a ninth email shows that the FBI General Counsel’s office made edits on March 25.
Was Trump still removed as an investigative subject? If so, which Justice Department and FBI officials – other than Jack Smith – later added him for prosecution?
I expect the production of all records on this matter to better understand the full fact pattern and whether other records exist.
Notably, approval on these documents was also given by Richard Pilger.
This committee has written before about Pilger undermining the Justice Department’s efforts during the 2020 election for partisan purposes.
These emails and documents substantiate my July 2022 letter, which the FBI ignored.
Partisan FBI agents and DOJ officials tried – and ultimately succeeded – in launching a full-field criminal investigation and prosecution of the President of the United States.
Justice Department and FBI leadership acted in concert to further a political scheme to take down Trump. Just like they did with Crossfire Hurricane. They have yet to learn their lesson.
And their conduct yet again seriously eroded the integrity of these once storied institutions.
As I’ve said before, if a politically-charged investigation is to be opened, it must be done the right way. That didn’t happen here.
Mr. Patel, in my time, I’ve never seen our law enforcement and intelligence community institutions so badly infected with political decision-making. They’ve broken faith with We the People.
You must be fair, consistent, and aggressive. Your actions must be based on accountability.
Should you do so, you’ll have my support.
And remember, either you run the agency, or the agency runs you. And, the agency certainly ended up running former Director Wray.
Without objection, I’m going to introduce into the record my December 9, 2024, letter to Director Wray calling for him and his deputy to step down. I titled that letter, “Failures.”
Now, I’ll turn to our Ranking Member Senator Durbin.
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