Sparks expected to fly at Kash Patel’s Senate confirmation hearing to lead FBI
2025-01-30
Category: political

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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; "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.&nbsp; WHO IS KASH PATEL? TRUMP'S PICK TO LEAD THE FBI HAS LONG HISTORY VOWING TO BUST UP 'DEEP STATE'  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. &nbsp; Patel's national name recognition grew under the first Trump administration, when he worked as&nbsp;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.&nbsp; Patel was named senior director for counterterrorism at the&nbsp;National Security Council in 2019. In that role, he&nbsp;assisted the Trump White House in eliminating foreign terrorist leadership, such as ISIS chief&nbsp;Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019 and&nbsp;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.&nbsp; 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  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."&nbsp; "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.&nbsp; 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&nbsp;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. 'BEACON OF SELFLESSNESS': ISIS VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER HONORED AT CONGRESSMAN'S SWEARING-IN 10 YEARS AFTER DEATH Patel has also said Trump could release both the Jeffrey Epstein client list and&nbsp;Sean "Diddy" Combs party attendee lists, which could expose those allegedly involved in sex and human trafficking crimes.&nbsp;  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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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."&nbsp;&nbsp;  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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp;  Patel heads into his hearing armed with a handful of high-profile endorsements, including the National Sheriffs' Association and National Police Association.&nbsp;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.&nbsp; CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP  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."&nbsp; "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.