The Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats held off FBI Director nominee Kash Patel’s panel vote Thursday until next week.
One lawmaker can request such an action just one time.
Democrats on the committee said they want Mr. Patel to testify again because they’re unsatisfied with some of his responses about the so-called J6 choir at his confirmation hearing last week.
Senate Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, said in a previous statement that he wouldn’t schedule Mr. Patel to return to testify.
Mr. Grassley noted at the hearing that committee Democrats, who are in the minority, established a double standard by forcing the panel to meet on Thursday.
“Last Congress, Republicans routinely did not require the committee to meet in person to hold over nominations” Mr. Grassley said. “Republicans extended this courtesy at least 17 times last Congress, even when very controversial nominees were on the agenda. But now that Republicans are in the majority, Democrats on this committee are not extending the same practice to us.”
The top Democrat on the committee, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, responded that Mr. Patel’s nomination was “extraordinary” enough to have the committee hold over the nominee and address the letter that Democrats sent to Republicans for a new hearing.
“And the obvious response from the Republican side is ‘we’ve already had our hearing. We’re not going to have another one.’ I’m disappointed, not surprised, but disappointed, because I think there are several things that we have to acknowledge,” Mr. Durbin said.
“Number one, this is an unusual nomination, unusual because it’s a 10-year nomination. We decided 50 years ago to reform the selection of the FBI head to make sure that we took politics out of the equation,” he said.
Mr. Durbin then said that Democrats want to know why Mr. Patel distanced himself from knowing anything about the particulars of the J6 choir, a group of defendants from the Capitol attack who recorded a version of the national anthem, called “Justice for All,” during their incarceration.
“Mr. Patel basically denied any knowledge of the creation of this musical enterprise and the people who were involved in it,” Mr. Durbin said. “He was very proud of the musical selection, which he was playing at rallies for President Trump, and he was very much involved in calling these folks political prisoners who had stormed the Capitol on January 6.”
He added, “And yet, when we asked him about it, he denied that he had any real knowledge of who was involved and what they were doing.”
Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, responded to Mr. Durbin by saying that nobody in Congress condoned what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, but the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department overcharged many of the defendants using an Enron-era obstruction of justice statute.
“And I don’t see anything wrong with the Department of Justice under new leadership, finding out or trying to find out why that happened,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I’m curious. I know you’re a good lawyer. You should be curious too.”
Mr. Patel said during his confirmation hearing the J6 prison recording was produced to raise funds for families in need.
“I will always utilize my resources to help Americans in need, which is what I was trying to do here. And I’ve never once advocated for political violence or violence against law enforcement,” he told Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat.
Democrats warned that Mr. Patel would likely use the FBI to retaliate against President Trump’s opponents.
Mr. Patel countered that the FBI under his leadership wouldn’t pursue cases based on politics.
“There will be no politicization of the FBI. There will be no retributive actions,” he told the senators.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.