Richard Blumenthal Calls For Second Kash Patel Hearing To ‘Answer’ Claims He Directed FBI Purge
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a second confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee Kash Patel to “answer” allegations that he had orchestrated a behind-the-scenes purge of senior bureau officials — all while still a private citizen.
The accusations were raised by Senate Judiciary Committee member Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) in a letter to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, in which he claimed to have “highly credible information” that Patel, despite having no official role, had issued directives for the removal of senior FBI personnel. According to Durbin, Patel’s directives were funneled through Trump White House aide Stephen Miller, Acting Attorney General Emil Bove, and a newly created FBI Director’s Advisory Team (DAT).
Durbin further warned that, if true, Patel may also have committed perjury during his January 30 Senate confirmation hearing when he denied knowledge of any effort to remove or punish agents involved in past Trump-related investigations.
The New York Times first reported Durbin’s letter, in which he calling Patel’s alleged actions “absolutely beyond the pale” and demanding an immediate investigation.
Appearing on Thursday’s Morning Joe on MSNBC, host Jonathan Lemire asked Blumenthal about the allegations. The senator responded by calling for a second hearing to allow senators to hear Patel’s response while also blasting the nominee as “unqualified and unprepared.”
Well, he has answered [the allegations], arguably, incorrectly, maybe even falsely. And I think we need another hearing with Kash Patel to give him the chance to answer these allegations, because they are really completely disqualifying, the fact that he has been involved, reportedly, in covertly directing a purge within the FBI when he said there would not be one.
You know, he has glorified the January 6th rioters, calling them political prisoners and aiding them. He has that enemies list. He calls it ‘Government Gangsters.’ It’s deeply frightening to have a potential director of this investigative agency using it and weaponizing it for political purposes, when that agency is also responsible for investigating terrorism, drug cartels, real threats to our national security and our personal safety.
He’s unqualified and unprepared. He lacks the character and competence to do this job, and to have the credibility and trust of the American people. So there are a lot of questions that he still has to answer. But my Republican colleagues are apparently going to proceed with the record as it is now, even though he actually refused to tell us what he testified… We still lack the facts, and I’m deeply regretful that we’re going to apparently confirm he’s on track to be confirmed a man who has these really disqualifying factors.
Watch above via MSNBC.
