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Senate advances nomination of Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director

The Senate voted Tuesday along party lines to advance the nomination of Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, clearing a procedural hurdle to set up a final vote on the controversial Trump ally to lead the federal law enforcement agency.

Lawmakers in the Upper Chamber voted 48-45 to advance Patel’s nomination, as Democrats hold concerns that he would operate as a loyalist for the president and target the administration’s political enemies.

This sets up a final confirmation vote later in the week. Some of Trump’s other more controversial picks — including new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — have received enough support from Republican lawmakers seeking to fall in line to push the president’s agenda.

KASH PATEL’S NOMINATION TO LEAD FBI CLEARS FIRST MAJOR SENATE HURDLE

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

A former intelligence and Defense Department official in Trump’s first term, Patel has supported reshaping the FBI, including by expanding its role to carry out Trump’s mission targeting immigration.

He has been a vocal critic of past FBI investigations into Trump, including on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and debunked allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Patel has been panned for his lack of management experience compared to past FBI directors and for his many incendiary past statements, including calling investigators who probed Trump “government gangsters” and claiming that at least some defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot were “political prisoners.”

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats have also criticized Patel for supporting false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election and his refusal to affirm that former President Joe Biden defeated Trump in that year’s election. But Patel has still received support from many Republicans, including moderates.

“I’ve spoken to multiple people I respect about Kash Patel this weekend—both for and against. The ones who worked closely with Kash vouched for him. I will vote for his confirmation,” Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy said Tuesday on X.

PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Patel said at his confirmation hearing last month that Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding his point, including when he proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. and turning it into a museum for the “deep state.” Patel also denied the accusation that his book’s inclusion of a list of government officials who he claimed were part of the “deep state” constituted an “enemies list,” pushing back on that allegation as a “total mischaracterization.”

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The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines last week to advance his nomination to the full Senate.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 19, 2025
Senate Judiciary Committee to vote on Kash Patel nomination for FBI director

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to advance Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director to the Senate floor after a fiery confirmation hearing last month.

The vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET. If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote.

Democrats had successfully delayed Patel’s committee vote last week in an effort to force the Trump nominee to testify a second time.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., said attempts by Judiciary ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “baseless” as he already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION

Kash Patel appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing at the Capitol, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP)

This week on the Senate floor, Durbin alleged that Patel was behind mass firings at the FBI. Durbin said he’d seen “highly credible” whistleblower reports indicating Patel had been “personally directing the ongoing purge of FBI employees prior to his Senate confirmation for the role.”

An aide to Patel denied Durbin’s claim, telling Fox News Digital the nominee flew home to Las Vegas after his confirmation hearing and has “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.”

Patel, a vociferous opponent to the investigations into President Donald Trump and who was at the forefront of his 2020 election fraud claims, vowed during his confirmation hearing that he would not engage in political retribution.

However, the conservative firebrand was likely chosen for his desire to upend the agency.

In his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” he described the FBI as “a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens” and “one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.”

Patel has said intelligence officials are “intent” on undermining the president, but he promised he would not go after agents who worked on the classified documents case against Trump.

4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING

If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote. (AP)

“There will be no politicization at the FBI,” Patel said. “There will be no retributive action.”

Additionally, in another message meant to assuage senators’ concerns, Patel said he did not find it feasible to require a warrant for intelligence agencies to surveil U.S. citizens suspected to be involved in national security matters, referring to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

“Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens,” Patel said. “It’s almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission.”

“Get a warrant” had become a rallying cry of right-wing conservatives worried about the privacy of U.S. citizens and almost derailed the reauthorization of the surveillance program entirely. Patel said the program has been misused, but he does not support making investigators go to court and plead their case before being able to wiretap any U.S. citizen.

Patel also seemed to break with Trump during the hearing on the pardons granted to 1,600 persons who had been prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, particularly around those who engaged in violence and had their sentences commuted.

Kash Patel served as the acting Defense secretary’s chief of staff during President Donald Trump’s first administration. (White House)

“I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement,” Patel said. “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual that committed violence against law enforcement.”

Patel held a number of national security roles during Trump’s first administration – chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence, and National Security Council official.

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL

He worked as a senior aide on counterterrorism for former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, where he fought to declassify records he alleged would show the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant for 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page was illegitimate, and served as a national security prosecutor in the Justice Department.

Patel’s public comments suggest he would refocus the FBI on law enforcement and away from involvement in any prosecutorial decisions.

Kash Patel promised to get the FBI back to its law enforcement mission. (FBI)

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, he suggested his top two priorities were “let good cops be cops” and “transparency is essential.”

“If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission,” he said.

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Patel went on: “Members of Congress have hundreds of unanswered requests to the FBI. If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for congressional oversight, ensuring that the FBI operates with the openness necessary to rebuild trust by simply replying to lawmakers.”

Fox News’ Breanne Depisch contributed to this report.

February 13, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Patel camp derides Durbin accusations as ‘politically motivated’ attempt to derail FBI confirmation

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, pushed back Wednesday on allegations that he played a role in the firings of bureau personnel just hours after swearing not to do so during his confirmation hearing late last month – dismissing accusations from the panel’s top Democrat as a politically motivated effort to derail his confirmation.

Speaking to Fox News Digital Wednesday morning, a senior transition team official for Patel refuted the allegations made by the ranking Senate Judiciary Committee Democrat, Dick Durbin, that Patel had orchestrated the firings after his confirmation hearing.

This person told Fox News that Patel had left Washington the night of his confirmation hearing to fly home to Las Vegas, where he has “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.”

This person also refuted the notion that Patel has had anything to do with the firings of bureau personnel, as alleged by Durbin in Senate floor remarks the previous day.

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Senate Judiciary ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Kash Patel and Judiciary Chariman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. ( AP/Getty Images)

“Mr. Patel has been going through the confirmation process, and everything he has done since his nomination has been above board,” this person said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “And any insinuation otherwise is false.”

In addition to his trip home to Vegas, Patel has also spent time hunting away from Washington, this person said, providing photographed evidence of Patel’s activities.

The news comes one day after Durbin’s team cited “highly credible” whistleblower reports his office had received in recent days, which they said indicated that Patel had been “personally directing the ongoing purge of FBI employees prior to his Senate confirmation for the role.”

Durbin’s staff also sent a letter Tuesday to the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, requesting an investigation into these allegations.

“I have received highly credible information from multiple sources that Kash Patel has been personally directing the ongoing purge of career civil servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Durbin said in the letter to Horowitz.

“Although Mr. Patel is President Trump’s nominee to be FBI Director, he is still a private citizen with no role in government.”

If true, Durbin has alleged that Patel’s reported actions could put him on the hook for perjury.

Patel claimed during his Senate confirmation hearing late last month that he would use his role to protect agents against efforts to weaponize the bureau.

“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel told Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., during that hearing.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have sought to discredit Patel’s confirmation in the days and weeks ahead of his confirmation – which they reiterated last week in a press conference, after announcing they would delay his committee confirmation vote by a full week.

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Durbin told Fox News last week that their aim in delaying the hearing is to raise more public awareness about Patel’s previous actions, in hopes that doing so will shore up new opposition from some Republicans in the chamber.

Ultimately, lawmakers noted they can only delay Patel’s committee vote through next week. Beyond that, they said, it is up to Republicans.

This is a breaking news story. Check back shortly for updates.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.

February 12, 2025
More than 680,000 law enforcement personnel urge Patel confirmation to head up FBI

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FIRST ON FOX: More than 680,000 law enforcement personnel have urged the Senate to confirm President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, as quickly as possible – a show of support that comes as Democrats on the panel have moved to delay his confirmation ahead of a planned vote this Thursday.

The total number of supporters from law enforcement agencies was shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, and includes state, local and federal backers from groups including the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National Police Association and more than 370,00 members of the national Fraternal Order of Police, which announced their support for Patel Monday night.

“Throughout the course of his federal career, Mr. Patel has become very well acquainted with our national security apparatus and the threats the United States faces abroad,” the group said in the letter to the Republican chairman and top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This group touted Patel’s experience as a trial attorney for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, at the National Security Council and later at the Department of Defense, where he previously served as chief of staff to the department’s acting secretary.

DEMS DELAY PATEL COMMITTEE VOTE, DERIDE TRUMP FBI PICK AS DANGER TO US SECURITY

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, arrives to testify during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 30, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty)

They also cited a “broad-ranging conversation” the group had with Patel, in which they said he “made a compelling case about his commitment to public safety and ways in which the FBI can support state and local law enforcement agencies.”

“He has committed to building on the level of trust and collegiality the FBI enjoys with the law enforcement community, and we will all benefit from the enhanced impact the FBI can have on public safety in our communities.”

The groups have praised what they described as Patel’s “unwavering commitment” to upholding the rule of law, defending justice, and protecting the American people.

BONDI SWORN IN AS ATTORNEY GENERAL WITH MISSION TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats held a news conference in the Hart Senate Office Building opposing Kash Patel’s confirmation as FBI director. Pictured from left to right, Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Sheldon Whitehouse, Alex Padilla, Richard Durbin, Peter Welch and Mazie Hirono. (Breanne Deppisch for Fox News Digital)

The endorsements come just days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote to advance Patel’s nomination to be FBI director – a vote that has come under fresh scrutiny from Judiciary Democrats, who have cited recent efforts by the Trump administration to investigate FBI personnel involved in the Jan. 6 investigations.

Trump also touched off new concerns and criticism last week when he said he planned to fire at least some of the FBI officials involved in the Jan. 6 investigation, telling reporters that at least some of the agents, in his view, “were corrupt.”

“Those people are gone, or they will be gone,” Trump said of the agents, adding that it will be done “quickly and very surgically.”

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on what, if any, new information Trump had received about the allegedly corrupt activity of the bureau, or the number of personnel that could be impacted.

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

Kash Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI has raised concerns within the bureau that he would lead a political persecution of agents who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)

Patel, for his part, used his confirmation hearing late last month to assure lawmakers he would protect agents against political retribution or efforts to weaponize the bureau.

“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” Patel told Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., during that hearing.

Last week, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee succeeded in temporarily postponing Patel’s confirmation hearing – pushing the committee vote to Thursday, Feb. 13 – as they demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official seeking clarity on his previous remarks and his candor.

Democrats criticized Patel for both his previous actions and his remarks made on podcasts, social media and in his book, saying that in their view, Patel failed to assuage any of their concerns last week during his confirmation hearing – primarily, questions of whether he would take moves to ensure the bureau can continue to act without political interference.

Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, Kash Patel, center, and Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. ( AP/Getty Images)

Still, the opposition has been sharply contested by the panel’s chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

Grassley chastised attempts by Democrats to force Patel to testify again in a statement last week, dismissing the effort as “baseless.”

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He noted that Patel had already sat through a nearly six-hour Senate confirmation hearing, submitted “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, and nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

Barring any unexpected opposition, Patel is expected to clear both the committee vote Thursday morning and the full vote in the Republican-led chamber.

February 11, 2025
Dems delay Patel committee vote, deride Trump FBI pick as danger to US security

Democrats succeeded Thursday in delaying a committee vote to advance the confirmation of FBI director nominee Kash Patel until next week at least.

The vote, which was supposed to happen at 10:15 on Thursday, was pushed back after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official.

In a statement Tuesday night, Grassley said attempts by top Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin, Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “basesless” as he’d already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

A committee vote on advancing the confirmation of FBI nominee Kash Patel has officially been delayed to next week. (AP)

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

February 6, 2025
Dems delay Patel committee vote, ream Trump FBI pick as danger to US security

Democrats succeeded Thursday in delaying a committee vote to advance the confirmation of FBI director nominee Kash Patel until next week at least.

The vote, which was supposed to happen at 10:15 on Thursday, was pushed back after Senate Democrats demanded a second hearing from the Trump-aligned former Defense Department official.

In a statement Tuesday night, Grassley said attempts by top Judiciary Democrat Dick Durbin, Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “basesless” as he’d already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

A committee vote on advancing the confirmation of FBI nominee Kash Patel has officially been delayed to next week. (AP)

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

February 6, 2025
Biggest clashes between Patel and Senate Democrats

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President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee Kash Patel sparred with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday in his lengthy confirmation hearing, where he faced off with lawmakers on issues ranging from Trump’s pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters, his role in elevating a song released by the Jan. 6 inmate choir, and his previous call to shut down the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

He also answered questions about his views on QAnon and on his book, “Government Gangsters.”

Here were the four biggest clashes of the day.

Blumenthal: Patel’s actions giving ‘the appearance’ he has something to hide

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., blasted Patel for refusing to share his grand jury testimony from the probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving the White House.

FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing on Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The charges against Trump were dropped in Florida and New York after he won the presidential election, in keeping with a long-standing DOJ policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Blumenthal told Patel on Thursday that refusing to share his remarks with the panel gave “the appearance” that he is being less than transparent.

“The appearance here is that you have something to hide,” Blumenthal told him. “I submit to my colleagues on the committee, we need to know what the grand jury testimony is … and you have no objection to our seeking it, but you won’t tell us.”

“Even in a classified, confidential setting, I think that position is disqualifying,” he said, before adding, “What are you hiding?” “Why won’t you tell us?”

Patel declined to give a satisfactory answer.

“The appearance here is that you have something to hide,” Blumenthal said.

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

FBI director nominee Kash Patel, left, and Sen. Adam Schiff (AP | Getty)

Jan. 6 pardons

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also traded barbs with Patel on Thursday over the president’s sweeping pardon and sentence commutations to the more than 1,500 defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.

Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the panel, asked whether Patel believed the U.S. is “safer” after the mass pardons were granted, to which Patel attempted to equivocate the action to pardons issued by former President Joe Biden.

He told Durbin that he has “not looked at all 1,600 individual cases” before adding, “I also believe America is not safer because of President Biden’s commutation of a man who murdered two FBI agents,” Patel said, referencing Biden’s decision to commute the sentence of Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist convicted of murdering two FBI agents on a South Dakota reservation.

The agents’ families, he said, “[D]eserve better than to have the man that point-blank range fired a shotgun into their heads and murdered them released from prison.”

“So it goes both ways.”

The January 6 rioters, and their pardons, were a frequent topic of the hearing.

Supporters of President Donald Trump are seen at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

J6 inmate choir, ‘Justice for All’

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., hit Patel with rapid-fire questions regarding his involvement in and promotion of a song recorded by the “J6 Prison Choir,” a group of Capitol rioters, during their incarceration.

Patel shared the song, “Justice for All,” on social media. He said that at the time he “did not know about the violent offenders,” noting that he “did not participate in any of the violence in and around Jan. 6.”

In response, Schiff gave Patel a harsh public dressing-down over the violence and assault endured by the Capitol Police on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Turn around and look at them,” Schiff told Patel before motioning to the officers lined up for protection along the back of the room.

Patel declined to do so.

“I want you to look at them if you can, if you have the courage to look them in the eye, Mr. Patel. Tell them you’re proud of what you did,” Schiff said.

“Tell them you’re proud that you raised money off of people that assaulted their colleagues, that pepper sprayed them, that beat them with poles. Tell them you’re proud of what you did,” Schiff said, adding, “They’re right there. They are guarding you today.”

FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP CABINET NOMINEE LEOFFLER PLEDGES TO DONATE SALARY TO CHARITY IF CONFIRMED

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)

Booker doubles down on classified documents

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s questions to Patel regarding any efforts by Trump to declassify documents after leaving the White House were among the most heated moments of the hearing.

Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, asked Patel repeatedly whether he witnessed Trump handling documents marked as classified or moving to declassify them after leaving the Oval Office.

“In the name of all the values you have said today, did you or did you not testify to witnessing the president of the United States declassify documents?” Booker asked, his voice rising several octaves.

Patel told Booker he did not know if the documents he saw being declassified at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida were seized by FBI agents in the special counsel probe, and he urged Booker to obtain them legally.

“The question is: Will you lie for the president of the United States?” Booker said. “Would you lie for Donald Trump?”

“No,” Patel said.

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Booker urged Patel to testify to the Senate over what he said to the grand jury.

It “would be utterly irresponsible for this committee to move forward with his nomination … if we do not know that the future head of the FBI would break the law and lie for the president of the United States,” Booker said.

“He’s refusing the transparency that he claims to adhere to. He is refusing to be direct with the United States Senate,” he continued.

“Did he or did he not lie for the president? That is the question.”

January 31, 2025
‘Can’t be trusted’: Schiff sets social media ablaze after clashing with Kash Patel during explosive hearing

A clash on Thursday between Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Kash Patel, the nominee for FBI director, set social media ablaze when conservatives ripped into the new California senator after what they saw as a win for the Trump nominee.

Schiff, in his line of questioning at Patel’s confirmation hearing, began by asking Patel whether he stood by prior testimony that he had nothing to do with the recording of a song about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot inmates.

“[That] is interesting, because here’s what you told Steve Bannon on his podcast: ‘So, what we thought would be cool is if we captured that audio and then, of course, had the greatest president, President Donald J. Trump, recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we went to a studio and recorded it, mastered it, digitized it, and put it out as a song.’”

KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD ‘WE’ AND A JANUARY 6 SONG

The two quibbled over the meaning of “we” and whether it included Patel.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Yeah, and you’re part of that ‘we’ — right — when you say ‘we,’ that includes you, Mr. Patel,” Schiff said.

“Not in every instance.” Patel said, adding he had not personally participated in the recording or mastering of the single.

Schiff responded, “Well, that’s new. So, when you said ‘we,’ you didn’t really mean you. Is that your testimony?”

“Not unless you have a new definition for the word ‘we,’” Patel said.

In Thursday’s hearing, however, Patel said he was using the word “we” appropriately, while Schiff said he had “promoted the hell out of it,” referencing the inmates’ single.

“I don’t know what that means, but I promoted the heck out of raising money for families in need,” Patel shot back.

In another exchange, Schiff asked Patel if an FBI director promoted a song about people who sprayed pepper spray in the face of an FBI agent, “would you say they were fit to be director?”

“I am fit to be the director of the FBI,” Patel said.

Supporters of the Trump administration hammered Schiff and praised Patel over the exchanges.

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a Democratic Senate candidate, speaks during a Get Out The Vote meet and greet at IATSE Local 80 March 4, 2024, in Burbank, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

MAJOR CHANGES PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 AT FBI

“California’s Senator @SenAdamSchiff screams and screeches about the January 6th choir during Kash’s confirmation – and completely misses an opportunity to represent commonsense Californians,” former DNI Director Richard Grenell posted on X. “We want representatives who don’t lie. Who don’t miss the big picture. Schiff is partisan and petty.”

National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker said “any committee that [Sen. Mazie] Hirono, Schiff or [Sen. Sheldon] Whitehouse is on is one where Democrats completely lose all credibility.”

“I honestly thought Bernie Sanders yelling at RFK Jr. about onesies was going to be the craziest thing from the hearings this week,” Daily Signal columnist Tony Kinnett said. “Then I watched Adam Schiff yelling at Kash Patel for 5 minutes about song remixes. Good Lord.”

“Schiff can’t be trusted to serve on committees,” Judicial Watch Chairman Tom Fitton said.

Schiff argued he had won the exchange.

“Kash Patel raised money for January 6 insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement. I asked him to look those officers in the eye and tell them he was proud of what he did. He couldn’t,” Schiff wrote on X.

It was one of a number of fiery exchanges during the hearing. Democrats quizzed Patel about his record, including statements he had made in his book, “Government Gangsters.”

Patel slammed what he described as “grotesque” attacks against him.

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“If the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI,” he said.

“I stood with them here in this country, in every theater of war we have. I was on the ground in service of this nation. And any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair.”

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

January 30, 2025
Kash Patel turns tables on Dem senator with viral response: ‘You’ve got two minutes’

Conservatives on social media praised Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, after a thorny exchange with Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar during his confirmation hearing Thursday.

“That’s a general statement and a mischaracterization of what I said,” Patel told Klobuchar in response to questioning about a past quote that the senator suggested showed Patel believes some U.S. Capitol Police officers lied under oath during the Jan. 6 hearings.

“I encourage you to read the rest of the interviews,” Patel added. “This is why snippets of information are often misleading and detrimental to this committee’s advice and consent.”

Klobuchar responded, “If you consent, I would love to have five hours of questions, and then I could read the whole transcripts.”

KASH PATEL HAMMERS ‘GROTESQUE MISCHARACTERIZATIONS’ FROM DEMS AMID FIERY FBI CONFIRMATION HEARING

Kash Patel, left, and Amy Klobuchar, right (AP)

“You’ve got two minutes,” Patel responded.

“Wow,” Klobuchar replied before moving to another topic.

KASH PATEL FLIPS SCRIPT ON DEM SENATOR AFTER BEING GRILLED ON J6 PARDONS: ‘BRUTAL REALITY CHECK’

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing at the Capitol in Washington Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Numerous conservatives on social media praised Patel for his “sass” during the exchange.

“Amy Klobuchar continues to get outmaneuvered by Kash Patel at every turn of this committee hearing,” Townhall.com columnist Dustin Grage posted on X.

“Damnnnn,” Mark Levin show producer Rich Sementa posted on X. “Kash Patel For The Win.”

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Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“SAVAGE,” conservative commentator Benny Johnson posted on X.

“My favorite moment from this hearing,” former Trump campaign fundraiser Caroline Wren posted on X.

Fox News Digital reached out to Klobuchar’s office for comment.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

January 30, 2025
California Democrat hits Kash Patel for ties to gun rights group

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., grilled Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the FBI, over Patel’s pro-gun stances.

Asked by Padilla if Patel believes background checks on firearm purchases are constitutional during the nominee’s confirmation hearing Thursday, Patel responded that he didn’t know “the in-depths of it,” but believed “that’s what the Supreme Court said.”

“Do you think civilian ownership of machine guns is protected by the Second Amendment?” Padilla fired back.

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Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Whatever the courts rule in regards to the Second Amendment is what is protected by the Second Amendment,” Patel responded.

Padilla explained that his line of questioning was due to an “association” between Patel and the group Gun owners of America, which enthusiastically endorsed Trump’s choice to lead the FBI.

“GOA Applauds Nomination of ‘Fiercely Pro-Gun’ Kash Patel for FBI Director,” the organization said in a press relief following Trump’s announcement to tap Patel.

US Senator from California Alex Padilla speaks on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party’s nomination for president today at the DNC which ran from August 19-22 in Chicago. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Padilla expressed concern over the enthusiastic endorsement, arguing that the organization has taken “extreme positions” on guns.

“Gun Owners of America has taken extreme positions, including the position that all background checks are unconstitutional and that civilian ownership of machine guns is protected under the Second Amendment,” Padilla said.

Padilla then argued that Patel would be responsible for overseeing some of the country’s most critical gun regulations at the FBI, expressing concern that Trump’s nominee was not up to the task.

Former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump at Findlay Toyota Center on October 13, 2024 in Prescott Valley, Arizona. With 22 days to go until election day, former President Donald Trump is campaigning in the battleground state Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

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“Let me remind you that as FBI director you will oversee critical responsibilities related to firearm regulation, you’re administering the national instant criminal background check system. Yes, it’s constitutional, it’s in place, for a reason! You would also regulate the distribution of machine guns to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Policies and programs in place for a reason,” Padilla said.

“Given your hesitancy, given your answers, I am concerned about your ability to do the job when it’s not in alignment with views like Gun Owners of America.”

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

January 30, 2025