President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, said Thursday during his confirmation hearing he did not support the president’s decision to grant clemency to the dozens of Jan. 6 defendants who attacked police officers.
Patel, a 44-year-old lawyer and longtime Trump defender, was grilled by Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) about the president’s more than 1,200 pardons and 14 commutations for the violent and nonviolent defendants.
“As we discussed in our private meeting, senator, I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement. … I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” Patel said.
Durbin pressed further, and Patel reiterated that he has “always advocated” imprisoning anyone who causes harm to law enforcement, uncharacteristically distancing himself from Trump as he worked to tamp down worries about his loyalty to the president.
Patel, a former senior national security and Department of Defense official, became a reliable ally to Trump after he led House Republicans’ inquiry into the FBI’s investigation of alleged Trump-Russia collusion, helping to bring to light some flaws in the FBI’s probe that were later partially corroborated by two special counsels.
Patel’s vocal criticisms of what he describes as the “deep state,” his persistent self-promotion, and his relatively limited background experience compared to past directors have made him a controversial choice, but even centrist Republicans, such as Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) have spoken approvingly of him.
Patel opened the hearing by assuring senators he would adhere to the FBI’s mission and prioritize two items, tackling violent crime and offering “full transparency” in the face of congressional oversight.
“If confirmed as the next FBI director, I will remain focused on the FBI’s core mission, that is to investigate fully wherever there is a constitutional factual basis to do so and to never make a prosecutorial decision that is solely the providence of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General,” Patel said.
Patel found a welcome audience in Republicans at the hearing. Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), 91, who was elected senator in the post-Watergate era, has for decades advocated government whistleblowers and scrutinized the intelligence community. Grassley opened the hearing by saying “only 41% of the American public thinks the FBI is doing a good job” because of past bureau officials’ abuses of authority.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Mr. Patel, in my time, I’ve never seen our law enforcement and intelligence community institutions so badly infected with political decision-making,” Grassley said, adding the bureau is “in crisis.”
Grassley warned Patel: “Either you run the agency, or the agency runs you, and the agency certainly ended up running former Director [Christopher] Wray.”