The main Democrat of the Senate Judicial Committee accused Kash Patel, the election of President Trump to lead the FBI, to go to bed under oath at his confirmation hearing last month.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin said he has “highly credible information” that Patel is behind the dismissals of the office, although he is not yet the FBI director. Patel denied any knowledge of them when he testified to the committee.
In A letter For the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, Michael Horowitz, Durbin wrote that despite the fact that Patel has not yet been confirmed as director, “multiple sources” said Patel has been personally directing the purge in the FBI.
“It is unacceptable that a nominated without a current role in the government, much less in the FBI, to personally direct unjustified and potentially illegal adverse employment actions against the leadership of the career in the FBI in his career and other agents of the Law dedicated and not partisan, “Durbin wrote.
Durbin told the Ig Department of Justice that he had heard from his sources that Patel directives were being carried out by the best assistant in the White House, Stephen Miller, the interim attached attorney general Emil Bove and the members of the new advisory team of the director of the FBI. Durbin, a member of the team, said that his sources told him, has been providing Patel with information about what is happening within the office, and that Patel “then provides the direction of Mr. Miller, who transmits it to the Interim AttitUnly Attorney General Bove “. He said that each person in the DAT team communicated to the officials of the office that “at some point before January 30 he had been in direct contact with Mr. Patel.”
Dat, Durbin said, had a list that “identified certain officials and was seen by multiple FBI leaders.” Those who are on the list were understood as “people in the sight.” On January 29, the interim director of the FBI, Brian Driscoll and the interim deputy director of the FBI, Robert Kissane, held a meeting “where it was transmitted that a group of executive attendees (EAD) and other supervisors must give up or be fired,” Durbin wrote.
Durbin cited “[c]ONTEMPORANEOUS NOTES “of a meeting between the Department of Justice and the FBI leadership that day that said:” KP wants movement in the FBI, reciprocal actions for the Department of Justice. “Durbin said that Bove told people at the meeting at the meeting that he had “received multiple calls” from Miller, who was “pressing” because “Mr. Patel wanted the FBI to eliminate specific employees faster, as the Department of Justice had already done it with prosecutors. “
The FBI declined to comment.
Patel was nominated to replace Christopher Wray, who was Trump’s designated during the president’s first mandate. But Trump looked into Wray during FBI investigation into the attempt to cancel the 2020 presidential elections. Wray resigned on January 20.
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Durbin said that if the accusations on Patel’s participation in the FBI shots are true, “Mr. Patel may have been perjured before the Judicial Committee of the Senate.”
During his confirmation hearing on January 30, Patel said that “he was not aware” of the ongoing plans to punish or fire the agents and FBI staff who had worked in the multiple investigations of Mr. Trump, and added : “I don’t know what is happening. Right now there.”
The patel confirmation process has already been filled with controversy and delays.
In January, a FBI Insider advanced to the questions Patel’s trial during a hostage rescue mission when he worked with the FBI hostage recovery cell, which leads to government missions to rescue hostages abroad.
The Democrats also pressed Patel during their confirmation hearing on their promotion of the “J6 prison choir”, a list of executive branch officials of the “Deep State” appearing in their book, “Government gangsters” Recognize Mr. Trump had lost the 2020 election.
Also on Tuesday, 30 legislators wrote a letter to the Judicial President of the Senate, Senator Chuck Grassley and Durbin asking the committee to oppose progress in Patel nomination due to “inconsistencies” in his testimony and his “history of inflammatory statements” .
Elf He said in an X publication: “Another day, another attack against Kash Patel by the Democrats.” He called the latest accusations “nothing more than rumors”, and praised the “character+ credibility of patel for which more than half a million agents of the law responded.”
Last week, Senate Democrats could postpone a vote of the committee until Thursday to advance Patel nomination for consideration for the entire Senate.
and Scott Macfarlane contributed to this report.
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