During Patel's confirmation hearing, Durbin pressed Patel on Trump's blanket pardons, including for individuals who admitted to violence against law enforcement and those who subsequently committed crimes.
A Democrat has requested information from government agencies regarding claims that Kash Patel violated protocol during an attempted hostage rescue mission.
Patel told senators he would commit himself to "due process and transparency" if confirmed as the bureau's director.
Kash Patel’s claim that he knows nothing about Stew Peters, a conspiracy theorist who has promoted anti-semitic beliefs, was flatly rejected by the far-right host, whose show the FBI director nominee has appeared on multiple times.
Ill., questioned Kash Patel about his support of President Trump's pardon of Jan. 6 rioters convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers, including those who have since committed other crimes. Patel would not say if he believed the pardons made America safer.
Tenn., quizzed FBI director nominee Kash Patel on how he would help get to the bottom of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
FBI director nominee Kash Patel broke with President Donald Trump over commuting sentences for Jan. 6, 2021 violence against law enforcement.
Trump’s FBI director nominee, Kash Patel, said during his Senate confirmation hearing he did not support granting mass clemency to Jan. 6 defendants.
Kash Patel, Donald Trump's nominee for FBI Director, sat before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing. It was tense.
Durbin wrote, “I have recently received highly credible information revealing that while serving in the first Trump Administration’s National Security Council, Kash Patel broke protocol regarding hostage rescues by publicly commenting without authorization on the then in-progress retrieval of two Americans held captive by Iranian-backed militants in Yemen in October 2020.
Kash Patel faces Senate scrutiny over his FBI director nomination, addressing concerns about political bias and law enforcement independence.