As the Senate Judiciary Committee began a hearing Thursday on Kash Patel's nomination to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Patel was facing “unfounded attacks” and “false smears.” “Public trust in the FBI is low,” Grassley said, repeating Republican claims that the agency has been used as a political weapon. “It’s your job to restore the public trust and return the FBI to its core mission of fighting crime.” Patel appeared to agree, repeating several statistics on crime in the U.S. and promising that the FBI would work with other law enforcement agencies to fight lawbreaking. Patel said he would deal with an "erosion of trust" in the bureau.
Democrats on the committee assailed Patel on a long list of issues, starting with his criticism of how the Justice Department prosecuted rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and attacked police officers. Patel responded, “There can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement and anyone, anyone that commits an act of violence against law enforcement must be investigated, prosecuted and imprisoned." Pressed by top committee Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois on whether he supports President Trump's pardons of violent rioters, Patel disagreed with the president, saying, “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.” Still, Durbin said that Patel has neither "the temperament nor the judgment" to head the FBI.