In a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Kash Patel, President Donald Trump‘s nominee to steer the FBI, refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
The Context
Patel, who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, is widely considered one of Trump’s most controversial nominees, given his criticism of the FBI’s Russia investigation and his previous pledges to fire top agency personnel who investigated Trump during his first term.
Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30 in Washington, D.C. Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 30 in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
What To Know
Democratic Senator Peter Welch repeatedly tried to get Patel to say Biden won the 2020 election.
“What so hard about saying Biden won the 2020 election?” Welch asked. “What’s hard about that?”
“Senator, as I’ve said before that President Biden was certified and sworn in, that he was the president,” Patel said. “I don’t know how else to say it.”
“Well, the other way to say it is he won,” Welch fired back.
“He was the president,” Patel said.
“The other way to say it is he won,” Welch repeated. “I can say Trump won. I didn’t vote for him, but he won. You know, Al Gore said [George W.] Bush won when they were having that recount in Florida,” he said, referring to the chaotic 2000 election that required intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Vermont Democrat continued: “We have had a peaceful transfer of power here in very contested elections. And I’ll just be very direct with you about why I think this is of consequence. When Trump—Donald Trump has never acknowledged that he lost in 2020 and he invited people to come to the Capitol on January 6 to ‘stop the steal.’ And after that happened, police officers died. People were injured. It created enormous ongoing bitterness within the country and that’s your boss.”
“Do you believe that the 2020 election was stolen, as President Trump says it is?” Welch pressed.
“Sir, my opinions on the 2020 election have been expressed in this hearing and he’s entitled to whatever opinions he wants,” Patel said.
The FBI nominee continued deflecting when Welch asked him, again, if he agreed with Trump that the 2020 election was stolen.
“Senator, millions of Americans expressed concern going back to multiple elections, over election integrity—” Patel began, before Welch cut him off.
“You know, you’re so skillful,” the Vermont senator said. “You understand what I’m asking you. Can you say the words, ‘Joe Biden won the 2020 election?'”
“Joe Biden is the—was the president of the United States,” Patel said. Welch appeared exasperated, leaning back in his seat and laughing out loud.
“There’s a difference. I can say the words ‘Donald Trump won.’ I don’t like to say it,” Welch said. “But I must say it. And you cannot say that Joe Biden won the election.”
“What I can say is the same for both of them, senator. Both of their elections were certified and they’re both—one was and one now is president,” Patel said.
Trump’s FBI nominee also had fiery exchanges with other Democratic senators. Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono grilled Patel on reports that he had an “enemies list,” asking him if he planned on investigating Christopher Wray and James Comey, former directors of the bureau.
“I have no intentions of going backwards,” Patel responded.
He also wrangled with Democratic Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was asking Patel about comments he made in an interview, saying she “would love to have five hours” to question him.
“You’ve got two minutes,” Patel shot back.
“Wow,” Klobuchar said.
Patel presented himself on Thursday as a staunch defender of the FBI and its independence—a position that sharply contrasts with what he wrote in his 2023 book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy.
In the book, Patel called the FBI “a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens” and “one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.”
He also said the bureau is “bloated with billions of dollars of taxpayer money,” adding, “The rot at the core of the FBI isn’t just scandalous, it’s an existential threat to our republican form of government.”
But on Thursday, Patel told the panel of senators: “You can say whatever you want about me. If I’m confirmed, bring it on. But you will not denigrate the men and women of the FBI that save this country.”
What People Are Saying
Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff posted a video of his questions on X, writing: “Kash Patel raised money for January 6 insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement. I asked him to look those officers in the eye and tell them he was proud of what he did. He couldn’t.”
Former GOP Representative Justin Amash, founding member of the House Freedom Caucus and now an independent, wrote on X: “Kash Patel’s position that a warrant should not be required to search the communications of Americans under FISA 702 is disqualifying. The Constitution of the United States is the law. It requires a warrant. Anyone who willfully ignores the Constitution should not head the FBI.”
What Happens Next
Seven Trump Cabinet nominees have been confirmed. In addition to Patel, two others had confirmation hearings on Thursday: Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of National Intelligence, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was nominated for secretary of Health and Human Services.