Senate Democrats accused FBI Director Kash Patel of using the nation’s top law enforcement agency to intimidate journalists, setting off a bitter confrontation during a four-and-a-half-hour Judiciary Committee hearing.
Patel forcefully denied the allegations, while highlighting the FBI’s efforts to curb violent crime, combat drug trafficking and pursue fraud cases.
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The hearing quickly turned personal as Patel and several Democratic senators exchanged heated accusations.
“Like a thug, you’re using your agency to go after reporters,” said Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey.
“A reporter wrote about you and your bureau ran her name through records and began an investigation,” Booker added.
Patel dismissed the claim as a “total lie,” insisting he had never used FBI resources to target reporters.
In April, Mr Patel filed a $250 million (€216m) lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine and the author of an article he described as a “defamatory hit piece.”
The Atlantic article alleged that Mr Patel frequently drank to excess and was at risk of losing his position as FBI director.
MS Now, the cable news channel, reported that the FBI opened what it called an “insider threat investigation” into the article.
Since becoming director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr Patel has faced accusations that he is pushing out agents viewed as disloyal to President Donald Trump.
Those who have departed include scores of agents involved in criminal cases brought against Mr Trump after he left the White House in 2021.
Responding to questions about the departures, Mr Patel said “there was no purging” and maintained that most of the agents had chosen to retire.
The hearing also veered into unusual exchanges about the FBI’s decision to remove automatic hiring disqualifications for applicants who had engaged in prostitution or bestiality.
“The FBI has lowered its hiring standards by dropping automatic disqualification for applicants who have stolen from prior employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality,” said Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois.
Mr Patel said the policy concerned people who had been victims, rather than those who had committed such acts.
“Applicants who have engaged in bestiality means they were victims of bestiality because they were forced to do so,” he said. “We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked.”
Democrats also expressed concern after the FBI director declined to rule out deploying agents to polling stations during the November midterm elections.
“Election integrity is of paramount importance,” he said. “This FBI is not going to shy away from that effort.”
