Kash Patel Confirmed as FBI Director Despite Democrat Protestations

Original article here

After a week-long delay, the Senate finally voted Thursday afternoon to confirm Kash Patel as the nation’s next FBI director.

Patel advanced through the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote last week, despite Democrat questions about his truthfulness and qualifications. The final vote Thursday was 51-49, with all Democrats and two Republicans opposing Patel.

Both Lisa Murkowski (R-Ala.) and Susan Collins (Maine) voted against Patel, but he won support from every other Republican, including Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.) who has voted against a number  of Trump’s key nominees.

Patel previously worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill, where he helped expose the Russia collusion hoax, and in the first Trump administration, where he was Senior director of counterterrorism at National Security Council (NSC). Before that, he worked as a federal prosecutor in Washington and a federal public defender in Florida.

A group of five Democrat Senate Judiciary members, led by ranking member Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), held a news conference outside FBI headquarters earlier in the day to voice their opposition to Patel.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) was mocked on social media for his overwrought remarks.

“Kash Patel, mark my words, will cause evil in this building behind us, and Republicans who vote for him will rue that day,” Whitehouse declared. a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday morning outside the FBI headquarters.

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) whined that Patel could not be trusted and lacked the integrity to be FBI Director.

“We know that. Our Republican colleagues know that. “The only qualification he has to be FBI director is when everyone else in the first Trump administration said no, I won’t do that, that crosses moral, ethical and legal lines, Kash Patel said sign me up,’” Schiff added.

Patel notably remarked during an interview in 2019 that Schiff was the worst criminal in Congress in the past 250 years. The remarks came amid the Democrats’ first impeachment inquiry after it came to light that Schiff, then the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, may have engaged in witness tampering.

Schiff has also been credibly accused of leaking nonpublic and classified material to the press and other corrupt and unethical behavior.

“There’s no question here he is unqualified and unprepared,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said. “The only question is whether my Republican colleagues will do the right thing.”

Blumenthal warned Republicans that a vote for Patel’s nomination “will haunt you.”

Patel has stated on numerous occasions that he plans to release sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Black book on day one.
The book is said to contain the names of politicians, celebrities, and powerful figures who rode his private plane “the Lolita Express” to Epstein Island and participated in the sex trafficking of minors.

During his confirmation hearing last month, Patel promised Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) that he would work with her disclose the names of the parties involved.

“Absolutely senator. Child sex-trafficking has absolutely no place in the United States of America,” he said. “I will do everything I can as FBI director to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past.”

Update:
Following his confirmation Thursday, Patel released the following statement on X:

I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for your unwavering confidence and support.

The FBI has a storied legacy—from the “G-Men” to safeguarding our nation in the wake of 9/11. The American people deserve an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice. The politicalization of our justice system has eroded public trust—but that ends today.

My mission as Director is clear: let good cops be cops—and rebuild trust in the FBI.

Working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Bureau and our partners, we will rebuild an FBI the American people can be proud of.

And to those who seek to harm Americans—consider this your warning. We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet.

Mission First. America Always. Let’s get to work.