Senate Judiciary Democrats are calling for a second hearing for FBI director nominee Kash Patel, arguing he must answer questions about a surge of firings at the agency as well as “false statements” made during his hearing.
Patel appeared Thursday, the day before the Trump administration fired a number of agents and career staff in a massive purge of agency staff.
The Justice Department is also reviewing the work of more than 2,400 agents who aided in the investigation into the 1,500 people that stormed the Capitol.
“These personnel actions contradict commitments made by Mr. Patel under oath before the Committee,” the committee’s Democrats wrote in the letter.
“Mr. Patel testified that ‘all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,’ ‘every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard, and no one will be terminated for case assignments,’ ‘the FBI must be independent from individuals like Elon Musk making decisions about personnel,’ and he ‘will honor the internal review process of the FBI.’ Mr. Patel must testify under oath regarding whether he was consulted about these personnel actions, and, if not, what he will do to reverse them if he is confirmed.”
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) also sent a letter to Patel on Monday asking him to turn over any communications with both Trump transition staff and DOJ officials.
The Hill also reported Tuesday about records unavailable ahead of Patel’s hearing showing he did consulting work for the government of Qatar.
The letter from Democrats also noted that Patel made false statements about his involvement in promoting a recording made by jailed Jan. 6 defendants.
“I’m not aware of that, sir, I didn’t have anything to do with the recording,” Patel said during the hearing.
Patel has boasted of his role in helping the group record the track on Steve Bannon’s podcast, also previously promoted the group’s song and acknowledged he knew the background of the group.
“J6 Prison Choir consists of individuals who have been incarcerated as a result of their involvement in the January 6, 2021 protest for election integrity. They have sang the anthem every night since being incarcerated- lets help,” he wrote on social media in a 2023 post.
