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Tag: Patels

Senate Judiciary Chair Grassley slams Democratic effort to stall Patel’s confirmation

The head of the Senate Judiciary Committee slammed Democrats on the panel this week for their attempts to schedule a second confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, describing the effort Tuesday night as a “delay tactic” designed to stall Patel from taking the reins of the sprawling law enforcement agency.

In a letter Tuesday night, Grassley criticized what he described as the “baseless” attempt by Sen. Dick Durbin and other Democrats on the panel to push for a second hearing, noting that Patel testified for more than five hours before the committee and disclosed to the panel “thousands of pages” of records, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

“No one was convinced by the minority’s baseless efforts to mischaracterize and malign Kash Patel,” Grassley said. “It’s additionally outrageous to assert that a nominee should come before the Senate to answer for government actions that occurred prior to their time at an agency.”

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

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is seen in the U.S. Capitol after senate luncheons on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Further hearings on his nomination are unnecessary,” Grassley concluded.

He said the committee still intends to vote on Patel’s confirmation as FBI director as early as next week.

Grassley’s remarks – and his unrelenting support for Trump’s FBI director nominee – come after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, urged Grassley to delay Patel’s confirmation vote Tuesday, citing what he described as “apparent falsehoods” in Patel’s testimony last week, as well as the “recent removals and reassignments of FBI career civil servants.”

The letter, signed by all 10 Democrats on the panel, urged Grassley to delay Patel’s confirmation vote until Patel agreed to testify for a second time under oath about the recent removals and reassignments of FBI civil servants; and until DOJ agrees to provide the panel with volume two of former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report that refers or pertains to Patel’s testimony or actions, among other things.

SENATE CONFIRMS PAM BONDI AS US ATTORNEY GENERAL

Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Justice Department as attorney general, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

“Given the gravity of these matters, which bear directly on Mr. Patel’s integrity, his suitability to lead the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, and his regard for safeguarding classified information, we ask that the Chairman schedule an additional hearing for Mr. Patel to explain these matters in person,” the Democrats said.

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

Sen. Dick Durbin is a Democrat from Illinois and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The letter – and Grassley’s swift dismissal of the effort – comes amid two new lawsuits from anonymous FBI agents that were filed separately this week. Both lawsuits sought to block any public identification of FBI employees who were involved in the Jan. 6 investigations into the U.S. Capitol riots after a list of agents involved and their roles was shared with DOJ leadership Tuesday afternoon in keeping with an earlier request from acting U.S. deputy attorney general, Emil Bove.

Both groups of FBI agents asked the court for emergency injunctive relief to block the names or identities of FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations from being shared, citing concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI or spark retaliatory efforts inside the bureau.

Lawyers for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Agent’s Association, a voluntary professional association representing more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents, told reporters Tuesday night that they see the Jan. 6 request as a “prelude” to potential adverse action or mass layoffs in the bureau, citing fears that agents name could be subject to threats, harassment or targeting either by the public or inside the bureau.

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To date, there are no known plans to conduct sweeping removals or take punitive action against the agents involved.

One retired FBI agent also urged calm, noting to Fox News in an interview that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place.

This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case “fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,” and that violations of federal statutes were “proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.”

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

February 5, 2025
Legal experts say Kash Patel’s opposition to warrant requirement is not a major split

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, claimed Thursday that he won’t stand for federal law enforcement needing a warrant for surveillance in some scenarios because it’s plainly impractical in real-time practices. Despite lawmakers’ surprise at his opposition, legal experts say his take is far from unusual within the law enforcement arena.

Patel was peppered with questions Thursday on a provision called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. When asked if he believed that a warrant requirement is “practical and workable or even a necessary element of 702,” Patel said he had issues with “those that have been in government service and abused it in the past.” Patel said that because of the viability of abuse, “we must work with Congress to provide the protections necessary for American citizens dealing with these matters.”

“Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizenry,” Patel said during his Senate hearing. “I’m all open to working with Congress on finding a better way forward. But right now, these improvements that you’ve made go a long way.”

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

“The fact that the soon-to-be head of the nation’s, sort of, top law enforcement agency takes the position that is favored by law enforcement shouldn’t surprise anybody,” former assistant district attorney and criminal defense attorney Phil Holloway told Fox News Digital.

“When Mr. Patel answered the question the way that he did, that answer is adverse to the public positions taken by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.”

Patel, throughout his testimony, emphasized his interest in working with Congress if he were to head the FBI.

President Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI, Kash Patel, indicated during his Senate hearing on Thursday that while FISA’s Section 702 can be used appropriately, a warrant requirement can be impractical in real-time. (AP)

“Some lawmakers have absolutely called for the necessity of a warrant in these situations. And so it makes sense that the senators would ask the nominee to run the FBI whether or not he has an opinion on it,” Holloway continued. “But, ultimately, it’s not his call.”

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

“I’ve always thought that there’s a middle ground here where you don’t have to. And I think there are some situations that warrant a warrant and deserve a warrantless search,” Palm Beach County, Fla., state attorney Dave Aronberg told Fox News Digital. “And I think Patel’s remarks show that he thinks the same way.”

Aronberg noted that under U.S. law, there is a warrant exception under exigent circumstances, i.e. emergency situations, where it is impractical to obtain a warrant.

Kash Patel was peppered with questions Thursday on a provision called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (Getty Images)

“What Kash Patel is saying is that there may be some situations that may be in that gray area where you shouldn’t have to get a warrant,” Aronberg said. “And I am encouraged by his comments because I do think that law enforcement needs flexibility when it comes to national security matters, especially with the very real threat of terrorism here on our shores.”

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

Congress voted to pass a renewal of FISA’s Section 702 last April. The legislation serves as a governmental tool in gathering intelligence on foreign subjects using the compelled assistance of electronic communication service providers.

If the renewal had not been passed, the expiration would have meant companies would not be forced to comply with the government’s requests for surveillance aid under the bill.

Kash Patel and President Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Without the FISA section’s reauthorization, the government would be required to seek a warrant to compel any such assistance, which is a process that can span extended periods of time.

Earlier this month, a federal district court ruled that the federal government had violated the Fourth Amendment when it searched the communications of an Albanian citizen residing in the U.S. at the time of his arrest without a warrant. The information had been collected under FISA’s Section 702.

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“The individual rights of people in the United States under our Constitution come first,” Holloway said. “So having constitutional requirements that sort of frustrate or perhaps slow down law enforcement, this is a tension that is not new at all. And so what we’re seeing is this playing out.”

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind and Julia Johnson contributed to this report.

Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.

January 31, 2025
Sparks expected to fly at Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing for FBI director

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President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Patel, a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime Trump ally, will join the Senate committee at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when lawmakers are anticipated to grill the nominee on plans detailed in his 2023 book to overhaul the FBI, his crusade against the “deep state” and his resume, as Democrats argue the nominee lacks the qualifications for the role.

The president and his allies, however, staunchly have defended Patel, with Senate Judiciary member Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., arguing that Democrats are “fearful” of Patel’s nomination and confirmation due to “what he’s going to reveal” to the general public.

“They are very fearful of Kash Patel, because Kash Patel knows what Adam Schiff and some of the others did with Russia collusion, and they know that he he knows – the dirt on them, if you will – and I think they’re fearful of what he’s going to do and what he’s going to reveal,” Blackburn said on Fox News on Sunday.

WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP’S PICK TO LEAD THE FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP ‘DEEP STATE’

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, is expected to trade barbs with lawmakers in his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Patel, a New York native, worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City.

Patel’s national name recognition grew under the first Trump administration, when he worked as the national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the leadership of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Patel became known as the man behind the “Nunes Memo” – a four-page document released in 2018 that revealed improper use of surveillance by the FBI and the Justice Department in the Russia investigation into Trump.

Patel was named senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council in 2019. In that role, he assisted the Trump White House in eliminating foreign terrorist leadership, such as ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and al Qaeda terrorist Qasim al-Raymi in 2020, according to his biography. His efforts ending terrorist threats under the Trump administration came after he won a DOJ award in 2017 for his prosecution and conviction of 12 terrorists responsible for the World Cup bombings in 2010 in Uganda under the Obama administration.

Following the 2020 election, Patel remained a steadfast ally of Trump’s, joining the 45th president during his trial in Manhattan in the spring of 2024, and echoing that the United States’ security and law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, need to be overhauled.

‘JUST LIKE TRUMP’: ISIS MURDER VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS ENDORSE PATEL FOR FBI FOLLOWING MILITARY OP ROLE

Kash Patel worked as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade after earning his law degree in 2005 from Pace University in New York City. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Patel underscored in his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” that “deep state” government employees have politicized and weaponized the law enforcement agency – and explicitly called for the revamp of the FBI in a chapter dubbed “Overhauling the FBI.”

“Things are bad. There’s no denying it,” he wrote in the book. “The FBI has gravely abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law, but the very foundations of self-government at the root of our democracy. But this isn’t the end of the story. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed.”

“The fact is we need a federal agency that investigates federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of having its powers abused,” he wrote, advocating the firing of “corrupt actors,” “aggressive” congressional oversight over the agency and the complete overhaul of special counsels.

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

Patel adds in his book: “Most importantly, we need to get the FBI the hell out of Washington, D.C. There is no reason for the nation’s law enforcement agency to be centralized in the swamp.”

Trump heralded the book as a “roadmap” to exposing bad actors in the federal government and said it is a “blueprint to help us take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government.”

Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. He slammed the department, for example, for allegedly burying evidence related to the identity of a suspect who allegedly planted pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties in Washington, D.C., a day ahead of Jan. 6, 2021.

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Patel has also said Trump could release both the Jeffrey Epstein client list and Sean “Diddy” Combs party attendee lists, which could expose those allegedly involved in sex and human trafficking crimes.

Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin, Amy Klobuchar and Mazie Hirono, who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Getty Images)

Senate Democrats received an anonymous whistleblower report that was publicly reported Monday alleging Patel violated protocol during a hostage rescue mission in October 2020, an allegation Trump’s orbit has brushed off.

The whistleblower claimed that Patel leaked to the Wall Street Journal that two Americans and the remains of a third were being transferred to U.S. custody from Yemen, where they had been held hostage by Houthi rebels, before the hostages were actually in U.S. custody. Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, obtained the whistleblower report.

A transition official pushed back on the report in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, saying Patel has a “track record of success.”

‘WHEN THEY FAIL, AMERICANS DIE’: TRUMP SOURCE BLASTS FBI, URGES SWIFT CONFIRMATION OF KASH PATEL AS DIRECTOR

“Mr. Patel was a public defender, decorated prosecutor, and accomplished national security official that kept Americans safe,” the official said. “He has a track record of success in every branch of government, from the courtroom to congressional hearing room to the situation room. There is no veracity to this anonymous source’s complaints about protocol.”

Kash Patel has spoken out against a number of high-profile investigations and issues he sees within the DOJ in the past few years. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

Alexander Gray, who served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council under Trump’s first administration, called the allegation “simply absurd.”

Patel’s nomination comes after six of Trump’s nominees were confirmed by the Senate, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth – who also was viewed as a nominee who faced an uphill confirmation battle.

NATIONAL SHERIFFS’ ASSOCIATION SLAMS STATE OF POLICING UNDER BIDEN, THROWS FULL SUPPORT BEHIND PATEL FOR FBI

The Senate schedule this week was packed with hearings besides Patel’s, with senators grilling Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday and also holding the hearing for Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to serve as director of national intelligence.

Kash Patel is a former public defender, Department of Justice official and longtime ally of President Donald Trump. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Patel heads into his hearing armed with a handful of high-profile endorsements, including the National Sheriffs’ Association and National Police Association.

Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of ISIS murder victim Kayla Mueller, also notably endorsed Patel, Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Tuesday. Patel helped oversee a military mission in 2019 that killed ISIS leader al-Baghdadi, who was believed to have repeatedly tortured and raped Kayla Mueller before her death in 2015.

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Patel “loves his country. He loves the people of this country,” Marsha Mueller told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview via Zoom on Monday morning. “To us, you know, he is a person that we would go to for help. And he is so action oriented.”

“Just like Trump,” Carl Mueller added to his wife’s comments on Patel’s action-motivated personality.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

January 30, 2025
Dozens of former FBI agents rally around Kash Patel’s confirmation: ‘Lives have been shattered’

FIRST ON FOX: A nationwide group of former Federal Bureau of Investigation agents has sent a letter to Senate leadership in support of Trump FBI Director nominee Kash Patel making the case that the bureau is “broken” and in desperate need of a new direction.

“As a group of retired FBI Special Agents and former Intelligence Analysts from across the country dedicated to restoring public trust in the FBI and returning the FBI to its original mission, we support President Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as the FBI’s next Director,” the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, signed by over 50 former and retired FBI agents from Reform The Bureau said.

The letter was sent to Republican Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Dick Durbin, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“Many Americans have lost faith in the FBI, and for good reason,” the letter explains. “The FBI is broken. And with this loss of trust has come a rise in threats at home and abroad. Drug cartels and Mexican gangs have taken control of the border and have infiltrated cities across the country bringing violent crime and drugs with them. At the same time, China has grown more brazen, engaging in espionage that robs U.S. businesses of their intellectual property and undermines our national security.”

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

Kash Patel’s FBI Director confirmation hearing will be held on Thursday (Getty Images)

“Terrorist groups are on the rise again in the Middle East, with unknown numbers having flooded into our country over the past four years through a wide-open border. Just as these many, varied threats have increased, the FBI has been used as a tool in the weaponization of the Department of Justice to go after its political enemies. Lives have been shattered and the targets of these weaponized investigations have been forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own personal funds to defend themselves and their reputations. This needs to stop.”

The former agents wrote that the bureau is in “desperate need of a highly capable, non-partisan, and legally compliant FBI it can trust” right now “more than ever” and made the case that Patel is the person to make that a reality.

The letter explained that as both a public defender and prosecutor, Patel has “operated on both sides of the justice system,” which gives him a “unique perspective” to understand the need to both enforce the law and respect the rights of the accused.

‘JUST LIKE TRUMP’: ISIS MURDER VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS ENDORSE PATEL FOR FBI FOLLOWING MILITARY OP ROLE

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

“As a former congressional aide, he understands the importance of congressional oversight and the need for the FBI to be responsive and transparent to members of Congress as they perform this important function,” the letter states. “And as a former Executive Branch national security official who has served at the National Security Council, at the Directorate of Intelligence, and at the Pentagon, he understands the scope of national security threats our country faces. Mr. Patel also understands how organizations such as the FBI function and collaborate with other agencies to keep America safe, and the need for highly capable but legally compliant agencies to take on these threats and protect the American people.”

“Never has the FBI faced such an urgent and compelling need for comprehensive reform as it does today. Mr. Patel has proven he possesses the breadth of experience required to address these challenges. His leadership, expertise, and vision make him uniquely qualified to guide the FBI through this pivotal moment. For these reasons, we stand in full support of Kash Patel’s nomination.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patel spokesperson Erica Knight said, “The endorsement from these former FBI agents and intelligence analysts underscores what so many Americans already know—Kash Patel is the principled leader we need to restore trust in the FBI and refocus it on its core mission of protecting the American people.”

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Patel is set to join the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as the final leg of his nomination process kicks off in earnest. Patel has been on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate lawmakers to rally support for his nomination, earning praise from conservative lawmakers such as Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, as well as endorsements from key law enforcement groups, such as the National Sheriffs’ Association.

Patel is expected to face an uphill battle overall to secure the nomination, as Democrats balk that he lacks the qualifications to lead the law enforcement agency and would politicize the agency.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report

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

January 29, 2025