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Tag: grills

  • Graham grills FBI nominee Patel over ‘disgusting’ and ‘corrupt’ Crossfire Hurricane probe

    Graham grills FBI nominee Patel over ‘disgusting’ and ‘corrupt’ Crossfire Hurricane probe

    Trump FBI director nominee Kash Patel was grilled Thursday over the FBI’s investigation into alleged Trump-Russia connections in the aftermath of the 2016 election, known colloquially by its nickname “Crossfire Hurricane,” and which has emerged as something of a partisan lightning rod in the years since the investigation was closed.

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, for his part, used most of his allotted time Thursday to grill Patel over his views on the investigation, which he has railed against as politically motivated and a “disgusting” use of FBI resources.

    Patel was tapped in 2017 by then-House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to join the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe— an investigation that was widely praised by Republicans as helping discredit the FBI’s inquest.

    “Is it fair to say that the people in charge of investigating Crossfire Hurricane hated Trump’s guts?” Graham asked Patel Thursday during his confirmation hearing.

    “Yes, sir,” Patel responded.

    TRUMP AG PICK PAM BONDI CLEARS JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, WILL GET CONFIRMATION VOTE IN SENATE

    Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., waits for the arrival of President Joe Biden in the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

    Graham added: “Do you believe that Crossfire Hurricane was one of the most disgusting episodes in FBI history of a corrupt investigation led by corrupt people who wanted to take Donald Trump down?” 

    After Patel responded affirmatively, Graham continued to excoriate what he sees as the politicization of the FBI, which he claimed is “ignoring evidence, making up evidence, and lying to get Donald Trump.”

    WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY DEFENDS TRUMP’S FIRING OF INSPECTORS GENERAL

    Kash Patel closeup shot

    President-elect Donald Trump has named longtime ally Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who has been a frequent and harsh critic of the FBI, to serve as the bureau’s next director in the new administration. (Reuters)

    “FBI agents were telling anybody and everybody would listen that [the investigation] is not reliable, this is not trustworthy. But they plowed on,” Graham added. 

    “That’s why you’re in this chair today to fix that,” said Graham. “Without Crossfire Hurricane, this guy wouldn’t be here.”

    Patel is a close ally of the president-elect and served in the first Trump administration both as a deputy assistant and as the senior director for counterterrorism. 

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    His nomination has sparked early criticism from some Democrats ahead of his confirmation hearing, who have cited his previous vows to prosecute journalists and career officials at the Justice Department and FBI that he sees as being part of the “deep state.”

    He has since attempted to clarify some of those remarks.

    Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the 2024 election and other national news.

  • Top Senate Intelligence Dem grills Gabbard if Edward Snowden is ‘brave’: ‘Very troubling’

    Top Senate Intelligence Dem grills Gabbard if Edward Snowden is ‘brave’: ‘Very troubling’

    Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, grilled President Donald Trump’s DNI nominee Tulsi Gabbard over her previous remarks praising whistleblower Edward Snowden. 

    “Until you are nominated by the president to be the DNI, you consistently praised the actions of Edward Snowden, someone, I believe, jeopardize the security of our nation and then to flaunt that, fled to Russia,,” Warner asked of Gabbard on Thursday morning. 

    “You even called Edward Snowden ad I quote here, ‘a brave whistleblower.’ Every member of this committee supports the rights of legal whistleblowers. But Edward Snowden isn’t a whistleblower, and in this case, I’m a lot closer to the chairman’s words where he said Snowden is, quote, ‘an egotistical serial liar and traitor’ who, quote, ‘deserves to rot in jail for the rest of his life.’ Ms. Gabbard is simple, yes or no question. Do you still think Edward Snowden is brave?”

    ‘WARRIOR WHOSE VOTE CANNOT BE BOUGHT’: HUNDREDS OF VETS POUR OUT IN SUPPORT OF TULSI GABBARD FOR DNI

    WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 30: Tulsi Gabbard, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, arrives to testify during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Gabbard, a former Congresswoman from Hawaii who previously ran for president as a Democrat before joining the Republican Party and supporting President Trump, is facing criticism from Senators over her lack of intelligence experience and her opinions on domestic surveillance powers. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

    Gabbard pushed back that Snowden “broke the law” and does not agree with his leak of intelligence.

    TRUMP APPOINTS TULSI GABBARD AS DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: ‘FEARLESS SPIRIT’

    “Mr. Vice Chairman, Edward Snowden broke the law. I do not agree with or support with all of the information and intelligence that he released, nor the way in which he did it. There would have been opportunities for him to come to you on this committee, or seek out the IG to release that information. The fact is, he also, even as he broke the law, released information that exposed egregious, illegal and unconstitutional programs that are happening within our government,” Gabbard responded. 

    Mark Warner closeup shot

    Warner is chairman of the Intel Committee. (Reuters)

    In 2013, Snowden was working as an IT contractor for the National Security Agency when he traveled to Hong Kong to meet with three journalists and transferred to them thousands of pages of classified documents about the U.S. government’s surveillance of its citizens. 

    “I’m making myself very clear. Edward Snowden broke the law. He released information about the United States government,” Gabbard continued as she defended her position. 

    “If I may just finish my thoughts, Senator,” Gabbard continued, as Warner spoke over her. “In this role that I’ve been nominated for, if confirmed as director of national intelligence, I will be responsible for protecting our nation’s secrets. And I have four immediate steps that I would take to prevent another Snowden-like leak.”

    Gabbard has previously lauded Snowden, including during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in 2019. 

    DEMOCRATS TRASH TULSI GABBARD AFTER TRUMP TAPS HER FOR DNI POST

    Edward Snowden closeup shot

    FILE – This June 9, 2013 file photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, in Hong Kong. Snowden wrote in “an open letter to the Brazilian people” published early Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013 by the respected Folha de S. Paulo newspaper that he would be willing to help Brazil’s government investigate U.S. spying on its soil, but that he could do so only if granted political asylum. (AP Photo/The Guardian, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, File)

    “If it wasn’t for Snowden, the American people would never have learned the NSA was collecting phone records and spying on Americans,” she said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast at the time.

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    Gabbard appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday morning as part of her confirmation process to serve as the second Trump administration’s director of national intelligence. 

    Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.