Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee to be FBI director, said Thursday that he is the right leader for the law enforcement agency, which he said had lost the public's trust, and told senators he would commit to conducting a "due process and transparency" if confirmed by the Senate.
At his confirmation hearing, Mr. Patel was prepared for deeply skeptical questions from Senate Democrats about his loyalty to the president and expressed a desire to improve the FBI. He is a staunch supporter of Mr. Trump, who, before being nominated to lead the FBI, criticized it for its investigations of the president and said the January 6 rioters were mistreated by the Justice Department.
Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the FBI is critical in keeping America safe from terrorism, violent crime and other threats, and the country “needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready from day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances.”
Mr. Patel was appointed in November to replace then-Director Christopher Wray, who led the nation's top federal law enforcement agency for more than seven years but was forced to leave the job to which President Trump had appointed him in his first term.
A former aide to the House Intelligence Committee and a former federal prosecutor who served in President Trump's first administration, Kash Patel has alarmed critics with his rhetoric in dozens of podcasts and books he has written, showing open support for Mr. Trump and attacking the decisions of the agency he now wants to lead.
He has also identified official names that he believes should be investigated.
In an interview last year, he said that if he became director of the FBI, he would "close down" the building where its headquarters are located in Washington and "reopen it the next day as a museum of the 'deep state'."
"And I would take the 7,000 employees who work in that building and send them across America to chase criminals. Go be cops," he added.
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal published Wednesday, Kash Patel did not mention some of his harshest comments and criticisms of the FBI, except to say that his time as a House staffer investigating flaws in the FBI's investigation into Mr. Trump's ties to Russia had shown how "the FBI's limitless power could be abused."
“I led the investigation that found that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a tool I had previously used to catch terrorists, had been used illegally to spy on political opponents,” he wrote. “Such behavior is unacceptable and undermines the public trust.”
Mr. Patel pledged to be transparent if confirmed as director and said he would not allow the FBI to be involved in prosecutorial decisions, leaving them to the Department of Justice.
“First, let those who are capable become police officers,” Mr. Patel wrote, outlining his priorities. “Leadership means supporting agents in their mission to catch criminals and protect our citizens. If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations by increasing the presence of agents in the field across the country. Cooperation with law enforcement is essential to fulfilling the FBI’s mission.”
Mr. Patel shares with Mr. Trump skepticism about government surveillance and a secretive political system known as the 'deep state,' a term used by the president to refer to government bureaucracy.
He was part of a small group of supporters during Mr. Trump's recent criminal trial in New York who accompanied him to court, where he told reporters that Mr. Trump was the victim of an "unconstitutional circus."
Their close relationship would break with the tradition of FBI directors keeping a distance from presidents.
Several Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee who have met with Mr. Patel, including Senator Durbin, have issued statements signaling their opposition to his confirmation. Lawmakers also asked Pam Bondi, Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, numerous questions about him when she had her confirmation hearing this month.
Mr. Trump's Republican allies, who share the president's view that the FBI is politicized, have offered support to Mr. Patel. They see him as someone who can bring about needed change.
Senator Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the committee, tried to soften the attacks on Mr. Patel in advance by focusing on the need to reform the FBI, which they say is being used against opponents.
The FBI has been involved in numerous high-profile political investigations in recent years, including not only the two federal investigations into Mr. Trump that resulted in indictments, but also investigations into President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
“It is no wonder that public trust has eroded in an institution that has been plagued by abuse, lack of transparency, and exploitation of political opponents,” said Senator Grassley. “Yet, the FBI remains an important, even indispensable, institution for law and order in our country.”
He later added: "Mr. Patel, if confirmed, you will take charge of an FBI that is in crisis." VOA (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
