Senate Democrats have forced a week-long delay in Judiciary Committee vote on advancing the nomination of Indian American lawyer Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to be FBI director, over two alleged “enemies lists.”
Patel, a former Trump administration lawyer, is accused of promoting a list of Trump’s political adversaries and endorsing retribution against them, raising serious concerns about his fitness for the role.
READ: Kash Patel blasts FBI for ‘endangering his life’ (August 29, 2022)
A book published in 2022 named 60 critics of Donald Trump and suggested they should be investigated. The second emerged this week, involving FBI agents who probed the 2021 Capitol riots, where Trump was impeached and later indicted.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer criticized Patel’s nomination, calling it a dangerous move that could compromise the FBI’s independence. “These actions have political retribution written all over them. If Kash Patel becomes FBI director, things will only get worse,” Schumer said.
The judiciary committee was initially set to move Patel’s nomination to a full Senate vote. However, Democrats demanded a second hearing, claiming Patel withheld key information about his involvement in Trump’s alleged plans for FBI retaliation.
Patel denied having any “enemies list” and said he intended to expose lawbreakers. Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz defended him, calling the attacks “political theatre” and dismissing them as baseless accusations.
The Democrats used a rule in the Republican-led committee that allowed a single delay of a week in any nomination vote. But the delay will likely have no bearing on Patel’s ability to ultimately be confirmed, according to ABC News.
Patel, who has never served as an FBI agent, has become a controversial pick after Democrats question about his comments that he planned to fire agents and the bureau’s leaders, as well as his voicing support for Jan. 6 rioters.
Democrats argued they needed the pause to see if they could get more information on Patel contending did not provide the committee with information “essential to our consideration of his nomination.”
In a letter to Republican chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, obtained by ABC News, Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, Cory Booker, and Adam Schiff wrote that Patel has “repeatedly refused to discuss the testimony he provided to a federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s unlawful retention of classified documents, as well as his invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.”
“We regret that you have rejected our efforts to inquire into the first-ever invocation of Fifth Amendment protection by a nominee seeking to lead the FBI,” they wrote.
The senators said that when they asked Patel to disclose information about his grand jury testimony, he said he could not because it was “subject to a seal order” but they said no such order could be identified. They also argued that Patel’s choice to invoke the Fifth Amendment before a grand jury “merits further inquiry.”
“Until Mr. Patel discloses the substance of his grand jury testimony, the Committee should similarly draw the adverse inference that he has something to hide; that he invoked the Fifth Amendment because his testimony would have shown that he committed a crime or was in other legal peril, which should be disqualifying for any candidate seeking to be confirmed as FBI Director,” the senators wrote.
During his hearing before the committee last week, Patel testified that he would be impartial but dodged questions about his comments and associations with far-right groups such as QAnon.
READ: Lawsuit targets Kash Patel’s FBI nomination records (January 6, 2025)
Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, said Thursday that the Democrats asked for another hearing due to those concerns, and what he said was Patel’s contradictory testimony.
“For God’s sake, to give the most sweeping investigative agency in the United States and the world over to this man to settle political scores is something we’re going to regret. That’s why we asked for a second hearing on this,” he said.
Despite Democratic objections, Republicans have warmly received Patel’s nomination. During his hearing, Grassley called Patel’s career a “study in fighting for unpopular but righteous causes, exposing corruption, and putting America First.” No Senate Republican has said they intend to vote against Patel at this time, according to ABC News.