Trump FBI nominee Patel questioned on Capitol riot, retribution claims

Kash Patel, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of the FBI, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. / REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's nominee for FBI director, vowed on Jan. 30 to protect FBI employees against "political retribution" even as the Trump administration has begun to fire and sideline Justice Department officials who were involved in investigations into the president.

Pressed by Democratic U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal to commit to not fire FBI agents who worked on investigations into Trump's mishandling of classified documents and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Patel said, "All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution."

The acting attorney general, who oversees the FBI, on Jan. 27 fired more than a dozen Justice Department lawyers who worked on the Trump cases, citing a lack of trust that they could carry out Trump's agenda.

Patel told lawmakers he was not involved in those moves. He said he would follow FBI policies in disciplining employees.

Democrats pressed Patel during his confirmation hearing about his past comments downplaying the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and threatening investigations of government officials and the news media. Patel did not directly address past remarks, but told the Senate Judiciary Committee, "Any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair."

Patel, a conservative firebrand, has been among the most vocal critics of investigations into Trump, depicting them as the work of a "deep state" on law enforcement and intelligence officials bent on undermining the president.

Patel appeared to break with the Republican president on his sweeping pardons for all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in the Capitol attack, including hundreds who were convicted of assaulting police.

"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 said any FBI investigations during his tenure would be based on a factual and legal basis.

DEMOCRAT QUESTIONS QUALIFICATIONS

The panel's top Democrat, Dick Durbin, told Patel he had "neither the experience nor the temperament nor the judgment" to lead the FBI, pointing to officials in Trump's first administration who condemned him.

"Our nation needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances," Durbin said.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) criticises the tweet of Kash Patel, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be director of the FBI, as Patel testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 30, 2025. / REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Democrats also pressed Patel on claims that Trump declassified sensitive records the FBI seized from Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022, a claim Trump's lawyers in the case did not endorse. Patel was summoned before a federal grand jury in the probe.

Democrats on their own will not be able to block Patel from being confirmed. Trump has so far succeeded in securing confirmation for one highly controversial nominee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a 51-50 vote after Vice President JD Vance broke a tie caused by three Republican no votes.

That was just the second time in U.S. history a vice president's vote was needed to break a tie on a Cabinet nominee.

The committee's top Republican, Chuck Grassley, sought to preempt Democratic attacks, denying that Patel has an "enemies list" of people he will target for investigation. He portrayed Patel as an iconoclast who has exposed corruption in federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

"Mr. Patel's career has been a study in fighting unpopular but righteous causes," Grassley said.

Patel has said that the FBI used undercover operatives to entrap rioters during the attack on the Capitol, despite a recent Justice Department inspector general report that found the FBI had 26 informants at the Capitol, but most were there on their own accord and none received approval to engage in criminal activity.

A former aide to then-House Intelligence Committee Republican Chairman Devin Nunes, Patel helped spearhead the congressional probe into the FBI's handling of its investigation into contacts between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.

A Justice Department internal watchdog report later concluded that the FBI made errors in the warrant application to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page but found no evidence of political bias.

Patel started his career as a public defender in Miami, first on local cases and later on federal ones. 

Before going to work on Capitol Hill, he worked in counterterrorism at the Justice Department for about three years. 

Later, he also briefly worked for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Council and finally, as chief of staff to the defense secretary.