Kash Patel Loses It as Jamie Raskin Grills Him Over Epstein’s ‘Black Book’: ‘You Want Me to Break The Law?’

FBI director Kash Patel endured a bruising throw down with ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday over why names in Jeffrey Epstein’s so-called “Black Book” and other files remain sealed.

Raskin opened his time by reminding Patel of his rhetoric about the Epstein files and “black book” on podcast appearances before his tenure as FBI director.

The clips showed Patel challenging the then-FBI director to “put on your big boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are.” In another video rolled back by Raskin, Patel insisted that Epstein’s “black book” was under the “direct control of the director of the FBI.”

“You were sworn in as director more than 200 days ago, now the Black Book is under your direct control. So why haven’t you released the names of Epstein’s co-conspirators in the rape and sex trafficking of young women and girls?” Raskin demanded.

Patel pushed back hard, framing his restraint as legal necessity rather than political timidity in a heated back and forth, insisting he had released all he could. He pointed to the FBI’s record under his tenure arresting child predators.

“I literally just told you, there are multiple federal court orders, I’m not going to break the law to satisfy your curiosity,” he said, insisting the FBI had “released more material than anyone else before” and that the agency is constrained by court decisions governing grand jury materials.

“Do you have any idea how the law works? Do want me to break the law in a federal judge’s order?” Patel shot back.

Patel went on to jibe Raskin about whether he understood how the law works.

That defense did not satisfy Raskin, or some press observers.

As Politico reporter Kyle Cheney put it after watching the exchange: “Kash PATEL is suggesting falsely that the court orders denying the release of Epstein grand jury materials is somehow tying his hands on releasing documents in the custody of the FBI. The courts made clear that the FBI/DOJ can release their own files.”

Read the full exchange below:

RASKIN: All right, so you were sworn in as director more than 200 days ago, now the Black Book is under your direct control. So why haven’t you released the names of Epstein’s co-conspirators in the rape and sex trafficking of young women and girls?

PATEL: The Rolodex, which is what everybody colloquially refers to as the Black Book, has been released.

RASKIN: Oh, no, you’re talking about what the journalists got five years ago? No, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about what you were talking about there. The black book under the direct control of the FBI director.

PATEL: We have released more material than anyone else before. The Biden administration, Obama administration had the exact opportunities to release this material and they never did. And if you are selling the men and women of the FBI, we’re not going after child predators. Hang on, you said we’re going after child predators? 1,500 child predators arrested this year, 35% increase, 4,700 child victims now.

RASKIN: Why have you changed your position? There you were saying it’s under the direct control of the FBI director and all of it should be released.

PATEL: Everything that has been lawfully permitted to be released has been released and as I told you really the investigation was limited. And let me make something crystal clear, I never said Jeffrey Epstein didn’t traffic other people, other women, and there are not other victims. This is the investigation we were given from 2006, 2007, 2008 and the search warrants from 2006, 2007, 2008 that’s what we’re working with.

RASKIN: Wait, have you released all of the stuff that the FBI has seized from Epstein’s house? The computers, the emails, the file cabinets, the documents? What about the financial records? Have you released all of that?

PATEL: Of that. Everything the court has allowed us to release –

RASKIN: Which court are you talking about?

PATEL: Three separate federal courts have come in and said –

RASKIN: We’re talking about the evidence you’ve got. It’s got nothing to do with what those courts have.

PATEL: Do you have any idea how the law works? Do want me to break the law in a federal judge’s order –

RASKIN: No I want you to follow your own word Director Patel. You said up there it was under the direct control of the FBI director. He had the black book –

PATEL: And everything I have direct control over… we have gone to court –

RASKIN: Complete your sentence, everything you have direct control over… you said…

PATEL: We have gone court and everything we have direct –

RASKIN: Complete your sentence you said –

PATEL: – everything we release we’re releasing.

RASKIN: You began the sentence, ‘Everything you have direct control over I –’ and then you stop that sentence. You’ve released everything that you have direct control over?

PATEL: I have direct control over and can lawfully release. If you’re not familiar with the court orders, that’s not my fault.

RASKIN: Oh, I’m perfectly familiar with them, but how did we prosecute Ghislaine Maxwell?

PATEL: She was prosecuted with the investigatory material that was collected from 2001 and 2005 because of the non-prosecution agreements and the court orders on the investigations and search warrants, we were not able to develop new information. And oh, by the way, Jeffrey Epstein was out for 12 years and the Obama and Biden administration did nothing to look at his work, his pedophile network. If you want to blame me, that’s fine. But now you’re blaming the men and women who conducted this great search.

RASKIN: I’m not blaming anybody other than you. You’re not keeping your word. You said that you would release all of the materials.

PATEL: Has anyone released more information on Epstein than I have? Has anyone? Did Comey? Did Ray? Did they?

RASKIN: Excuse me, much more has come out in the days since the American people in Congress have been demanding it, but it’s coming out in dribs and drabs. Why don’t you just release the entire file as you promised to do?

PATEL: I literally just told you, there are multiple federal court orders, I’m not going to break the law to satisfy your curiosity. You didn’t join us when we filed court to release the court orders. You could have. You have lawyers. You could’ve shown up. You didn’t do that.

RASKIN: That’s a tiny fraction of the material we’re talking about.

PATEL: That is not. How do you know that? Have you seen everything?

RASKIN: It’s all misdirection.

CHAIRMAN JIM JORDAN: The gentleman has expired.

Watch above via CSPAN.