The Biggest Moments From Kash Patel’s Testy FBI Confirmation Hearing

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, sat down before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to field questions from senators who may be skeptical that the far-right firebrand is qualified to lead the law enforcement agency he has frequently maligned. 

Among the pool of die-hard MAGA loyalists from which Trump is forming his Cabinet, Patel is a standout sycophant. The president has been attempting to elevate Patel into a high-level government position since his first administration — even over the objections of career Republican officials who warned that the attorney is a rogue actor unconcerned with the law or established norms. 

But Trump loves that kind of guy. 

During his confirmation hearing, Patel was questioned about his promotion of conspiracy theories, his associations with right-wing extremists, his sketchy financial endeavors, and if he plans to bring his past musings about exacting revenge on Trump’s political enemies into his work at the FBI. 

Here are some of the highlights:

He said he disagrees with pardoning Jan. 6 defendants who assaulted cops 

If confirmed, Patel will head one of the principal federal law enforcement agencies in the country, but what’s the point of enforcing laws if the sitting president can simply wipe away thousands of convictions because he likes the convicts? 

Early in the hearing, Patel was asked if he agreed with Trump’s decision to pardon Jan. 6 rioters who had been convicted of violent crimes, including attacks against law enforcement. 

I do “not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” Patel said, in a notable break with the president. 

“I have always advocated for imprisoning those” who harm “our law enforcement and civilian communities,” he added. 

He refused to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election

Like many of Trump’s Cabinet picks, Patel has pushed false claims that Trump won the 2020 election, and was cheated out of consecutive terms by widespread fraud. 

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The FBI’s Public Corruption department investigates federal crimes related to electoral and campaign finance fraud, as well as civil rights violations. During the hearing, Patel in multiple instances refused to affirm that Trump lost the 2020 election. 

In one exchange, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) asked, “Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election, yes or no?” 

Patel responded with a common semantic duck Republicans have used to avoid annoying the president: “President Biden’s election was certified.”

“The people who are 100 percent loyal to President Trump can’t answer that question. It’s alarming that you want to be an FBI director but can’t answer a simple question,” Hirono countered. 

Later in the hearing, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) asked a similar question. “Can you say the words ‘Joe Biden won the 2020 election?’”

Patel gave a variation of his previous answer, “Joe Biden was president of the United States.”

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Welch pointed out the inadequacy of the answer. “There’s a difference, I can say the words ‘Donald Trump won,’ I don’t like to say it. But I must say it. And you cannot say that Joe Biden won the election.”

He said he doesn’t have an “enemies list”

In his book Government Gangsters, Patel included a list of 60 lawmakers and public officials he deemed “corrupt actors” of the “deep state” who are a “dangerous threat to democracy.”

The nominee indicated in the book that the list was by no means comprehensive, and its inclusion — along with Patel’s past statements indicating a desire to prosecute said “deep state” enemies — has raised alarm among public officials. According to a Thursday report from CNN, some individuals on the list are taking steps to protect themselves and their families ahead of Patel’s expected ascension to the top of the FBI. 

When asked about the list during the hearing, Patel claimed that it’s “not an enemies list,” and that to describe it as such was a “total mischaracterization.”

He seems to have lied about not knowing anything about the Jan. 6 choir 

Patel was accused during the hearing of lying under oath after he claimed to not know that the individuals who participated in the J6 Prison Choir — who recorded songs during their incarcerations — were imprisoned for crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Patel was involved in the production of the song “Justice for All,” which featured the rioters as well as a recording of Trump. 

“My understanding is that the performers on this J6 choir were the rioters who are in prison,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said during his questioning of Patel. 

“I’m not aware of that, sir. I didn’t have anything to do with the recording,” Patel replied. 

Later in the hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) read a quote from Patel in which he described the recording process to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. 

“Here’s what you told Steve Bannon on his podcast: ‘So what we thought would be cool is if we captured that audio and then, of course, had the greatest president, President Donald J. Trump, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, then we went to a studio and recorded it, mastered it, digitized it, and put it out as a song,’” Schiff quoted. “We, we, we — if you had nothing to do with it, Mr. Patel, why did you tell Steve Bannon all his listeners that you did? […] When you say ‘we,’ that includes you, doesn’t it Mr. Patel?” 

Patel’s responded “not in every instance.” The nominee then began haggling with Schiff over whether or not the use of the word “we” includes the person speaking. 

“So when you said ‘we,’ you didn’t really mean you. Is that your testimony?” Schiff asked. 

“Unless you have a new definition for the word ‘we,’” Patel replied. 

A sarcastic Schiff told the committee that he “always thought we included the person who pronounced the word, which is interesting.”  

He falsely claimed he disavowed QAnon 

During questioning, Patel claimed that he “rejected outright QAnon’s baseless conspiracy theories.”

His statement under oath ran contrary to a long list of promotion and interaction the FBI nominee has had with the conspiratorial movement. Patel said in a 2022 interview that Truth Social — where he serves as a board member — tried to “incorporate” QAnon into its “overall messaging scheme to capture audiences because whoever that person is has certainly captured a widespread breadth of the MAGA and the America First movement.”

In another incident, Patel signed copies of his children’s book The Plot Against The King 2,000 Mules with “WWG1WGA,” a QAnon slogan meaning “where we go one, we go all.”

Patel posted references to trends embraced by the QAnon community on his social media, and appeared on QAnon podcasts. 

His connections with the movement are not an attempt to establish “guilt by association,” as Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) put it during the hearing, but rather a false denial by Patel of a dangerous movement he’s long courted. 

He said he doesn’t know a far-right extremist who frequently interviews him

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Patel if he was “familiar with Stew Peters,” a far-right extremist who hosts his own podcast and has almost a million X followers. 

“Not off the top of my head,” Patel replied. 

“You made eight separate appearances on his podcast,” Durbin countered. “He promoted outrageous conspiracy theories and worked with a prominent neo-Nazi […] when it comes to your association with individuals, why are so many of them in this category?” 

Patel did not appreciate the question, tersely telling Durbin that his “association, as you loosely define it, is by appearing in media over 1,000 times to take on people who are putting on conspiratorial theories, and to disavow them of their false impressions and to talk to them about the truth,” Patel claimed. 

In one appearance on Peter’s show, Patel told the host that he “always [loves] coming on the show.”  Peters himself was less than pleased by Patel’s response, writing on X that “despite appearing on my show 8 times, Kash Patel feigns ignorance when asked about his association with ‘anti-semite neo-nazi Stew Peters during his senate confirmation hearing.” 

Peter’s later promoted a post from a follower claiming that Patel’s disavowal was “proof enough that we are owned by [Israel].”