FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau has held bad actors accountable for political weaponization under the Biden administration and touted the success of arresting the entire FBI Most Wanted list.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Patel to “walk me through what you have done, what steps you have taken to remove weaponization from the bureau.”
“Having been targeted myself by weaponization of law enforcement, we went after it internally because the FBI needs to be accountable to the American citizens and not just execute and enforce the law,” Patel responded during his testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“We looked at every individual that was involved with things like the Catholic memo or the intentional malfeasance of intelligence collection, intelligence production, and made sure those individuals are no longer at the FBI,” Patel added.
Patel was referring to an FBI memo from January 2023 during the Biden administration that targeted a Latin Mass congregation in Richmond, Virginia. The memo, which the FBI later rescinded, referred to “radical-traditionalist Catholic ideology.”
“It’s that simple. If you participate in that sort of conduct, we removed you,” Patel said.
He said he could not speak publicly about any ongoing investigations.
The FBI director noted a weekend arrest achieved a major milestone.
“In 2025, according to the Uniform Crime Report, we delivered the largest reduction in the murder rate in the history of America,” Patel said during his opening remarks. “The FBI captured more than two and a half times the number of the top 10 most wanted fugitives on the FBI’s list from the prior administration. In fact, Mr. Chairman, I’m proud to announce today, and I hate to correct you, we haven’t captured nine of the top 10 most wanted individuals on our list. We’ve captured 10.”
Later in the hearing, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., asked about the indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal group implicated in alleged fraud.
“A federal grand jury has charged the SPLC with wire fraud, false statements, and money laundering offenses,” Schmitt said.
The indictment accused the SPLC of funding the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. The SPLC has said it was paying informants to help fight extremism, but federal prosecutors say it was propping up extremism and misleading its donors. Federal prosecutors also alleged the SPLC opened fictitious bank accounts to send the money to extremist groups.
For its part, the SPLC has said the case is meritless and politically motivated.
Schmitt followed up: “If the evidence establishes that officers or employees knowingly participated in a fraud scheme, can those individuals be held personally accountable?”
Patel said they could and added the FBI probe of the SPLC “is very much ongoing.”
“There have been multiple indictments alleging that, as the indictments say, the SPLC utilized sources that they had hired to go into the very networks that they were supposed to stand up against and funneled fraudulent donations to submerge their activities,” Patel said.
He also sparred with Senate Democrats on the committee.
Ranking Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called Patel the “least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation’s history.”
He went on to criticize the Justice Department’s production of files regarding convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had ties to numerous high-profile figures in politics and business.
When Patel said the Trump administration released more information about Epstein than any administration, Durbin said, “Congress had to pass a law.”
Patel replied, “You could have passed that law in the Biden administration. You didn’t. You had both majorities.”
Durbin didn’t have an answer for why Democrats didn’t pass a law, but replied, “You could have come up with a better explanation.”
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., pressed Patel: “Why are you being such a panderer to President [Donald] Trump, who is still claiming he won the 2020 election, and who has said the only way Democrats can win in 2026 is if they cheat?”
Patel replied, “What I believe in is the rule of law. Are you done with your campaign ad?” Amid crosstalk, Patel asked, “By the way, I want to know how your wealth has increased 4,000% since you became a United States senator. That’s a magic act all Americans should wanna know about.”
At another point in the hearing, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said the entire committee should have walked out in indignant protest when Patel asked that question of Welch.
Booker went past his five minutes for asking questions. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, kept banging the gavel to explain that his time was up.
“We don’t have an FBI director. We have a lackey,” Booker said, seeking to get in more comments. “He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends.”
When Grassley was ready to move on, Booker told Patel, “What a mockery you are.”
Patel replied, “You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate.”
Booker said, “Eight million voters in New Jersey would disagree.”
The often-reserved Grassley said, “Are you done now? Are you ready to shut up?”
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