Kristen Welker Asks Trump DOJ Head If President Still ‘Has Confidence’ In Kash Patel Amid Drinking Scandal

Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker spoke to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday about the investigation into how a gunman managed to storm security at the White House Correspondence Dinner the night before, with President Donald Trump in attendance. Blanche spoke about the ongoing investigation and mentioned FBI Director Kash Patel’s role in the investigation multiple times.

“I do want to ask you, big picture, Mr. Acting Attorney General: the security breach does come amid reporting in The Atlantic that FBI Director Kash Patel has alarmed some of his colleagues with episodes of what The Atlantic describes as “excessive drinking, unexplained absences.” Does President Trump still have confidence in Kash Patel to lead the FBI at this critical moment?” Welker pressed.

Blanche replied, “That article was full of unnamed sources and should be completely discounted. I was with Director Patel last night. I was with him at the crime scene. I was with him in the Oval Office. I was with him afterwards. I was on the phone with him late into the evening. He was at the command center, leading the investigation along with our great U.S. Attorney from D.C., Jeanine Pirro, and that’s what he’s doing.”

“So there are all these fake articles with unnamed sources claiming things, and then there’s the reality of what’s happening and what we all saw last night. And so I’m not going to speak for President Trump, but I certainly have confidence in Director Patel, and also the men and women working with him, that worked through the night, will work through the day and through the night tonight, to investigate this crime. And it’s something that I’m very proud of, and everybody in this country should be proud of it as well,” he concluded.

Kristen Welker continued, “Okay. And you’re saying — The Atlantic has stood by its reporting. I do want to ask you: looking forward, what specific steps is the Department of Justice taking to monitor or disrupt more potential acts of violence, and potentially political violence?”

Blanche replied, “We work every day to protect this country. There are thousands of agents working every day to protect this country. And it’s regular investigative steps, it’s tips coming in from members of the public, it’s us doing the investigative work that we have done for decades and continue to do. And you’ve seen that in the results. You’ve seen that in the charges that we’ve brought, in the attempts of terrorism that have been stopped by the FBI and by DHS agents as well. And so this is an all-government approach to make sure that our country is safe, not only within our borders but outside as well. And that’s the work that we have always done, and notwithstanding the noise that comes from some parts of this country about the work that we’re not doing — it’s not true. And so I think the work that happened last night is something that the whole world got to see. But that’s what happens every day inside the FBI, the Department of Justice, and DHS.”

Watch the clip above.

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