FBI director nominee Kash Patel broke with President Donald Trump at his confirmation hearing Thursday over commuting the sentences of Jan. 6 defendants who committed violence against law enforcement.
On his first day back in office, Trump commuted the sentences of 14 individuals and pardoned all others who were convicted of crimes tied to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Roughly 1,500 defendants faced charges tied to the attack, when a mob of Trump supporters tried to disrupt proceedings for certifying then-Vice President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, sometimes by assaulting police officers.
“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” Patel said Thursday.
More:Donald Trump’s FBI pick Kash Patel was key to Republican recasting of Jan. 6 attack
Patel was responding to a question from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on whether Trump was wrong to issue “blanket clemency” to Jan. 6 defendants.
The FBI chief nominee showed loyalty to the president on other issues, however.
Asked by Durbin if Trump’s Jan. 6 clemency made the U.S. safer, Patel said he hadn’t examined all the Jan. 6 cases. He added that he is in general an advocate for imprisoning those who harm law enforcement or civilian communities, and criticized former President Joe Biden’s commutation of the sentence of Leonard Peltier, who was convicted of murdering two FBI agents during a 1975 shootout.
“Senator, America will be safe when we don’t have 200,000 drug overdoses in two years,” Patel added.
In response to a question from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Patel refused to commit to resigning if Trump asks him to break the law – although he insisted he would never break the law.
“Senator, my answer is simply I would never do anything unconstitutional or unlawful, and I never have in my 16 years of government service,” Patel said.
Coons said he had asked former FBI Directors Christopher Wray and James Comey the same question.
“Mr. Patel, your predecessors in this role have been clear that they would be willing to resign if forced or directed to do something unethical or illegal,” he said.
Patel was also asked by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, to answer “yes or no” on whether Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. He declined to answer beyond acknowledging Biden became president.
“President Biden’s election was certified. He was sworn in and he served as the president of the United States,” Patel said.
Many counts and audits showed Biden won the 2020 election.
