The Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Kash Patel’s nomination to be Trump’s FBI director is ongoing, as Democrats issue dire warnings about his confirmation.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said that “we need to begin to prepare ourselves for Trump-Russia 2.0,” pointing to Patel’s desire to take actions that would reduce the FBI’s counterintelligence work along with Attorney General Bondi shutting down the DOJ’s “Klepto Capture” operations and Tulsi Gabbard’s appointment as director of national intelligence. Whitehouse said they have “sent powerful signals that they are shutting down our defenses when it comes to Russia.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., focused on Patel’s past comments and promises to take retribution against Trump’s political enemies. “A director’s loyalty to the American people, the Constitution and the rule of law is paramount, but Mr. Patel made it abundantly clear that he is loyal to the president,” she said.
“If you are affiliated with any kind of case that Mr. Patel did not like in the past, well then you need to be on some list,” Klobuchar said, calling out the targeting of people who worked on Jan. 6 cases. “People assaulted police officers, and now those agents who are simply doing their job find themselves on a list for personnel action. That is not right, that will not make Americans safe, and that will destroy the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“Mr. Patel did not even have the integrity to stand by his own words to this committee, his own words,” Klobuchar added later. “Repeatedly I asked about these statements. Own them, man! Just say, ‘Yeah, I said it. I believe that. I believe we should shut down the FBI headquarters. I believe they’re all corrupt.’”