Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement:

“On Thursday of last week, FBI director nominee Kash Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Throughout the hearing, Mr. Patel downplayed and minimized his well-documented record of calling for retribution against members of the media and government officials and glorifying insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, including those who violently assaulted law enforcement officers. Although there is no legal prohibition barring Mr. Patel from doing so, he refused to answer questions posed by Committee members relating to his grand jury testimony and the circumstances that led him to assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in connection with the federal investigation of President Trump’s mishandling of classified national security documents.

“Based on reports of imminent mass firings, I directly asked Mr. Patel whether he was aware of plans to punish FBI agents or personnel who worked on investigations of President Trump. Despite claiming, under oath, not to know anything about planned retribution against FBI employees, and only minutes after Mr. Patel’s hearing concluded, political appointees at the Department of Justice ousted several members of FBI leadership and demanded a list of thousands of employees who worked on investigations relating to the January 6^th insurrection. These employees worked to keep us safe from counterterrorism, cybercrimes, transnational organized crime, and countless other threats that pose a danger to our nation. Their abrupt terminations and the threat of more firings create chaos within the FBI and jeopardize our domestic and national security. Mr. Patel claimed during his hearing that all FBI employees would be protected against political retribution, but these actions are plainly retributive against law enforcement officials who have dedicated their lives to protecting this country.

“The Committee must call Mr. Patel back to answer for these acts. Chairman Grassley must schedule an additional hearing for Mr. Patel to truthfully answer questions about the ongoing purge at the FBI and retaliation against FBI employees and about his involvement in the retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Anyone who misleads Congress is unfit to serve as the director of the nation’s preeminent law enforcement agency with control over and access to our county’s most sensitive classified information.

“The Senate Judiciary Committee simply cannot discharge its constitutional duty to advise and consent on nominees unless we have a full and accurate understanding of Mr. Patel’s record and participation in gutting the FBI. The Committee must fulfill its responsibility to the American people and the 38,000 employees of the FBI nationwide to ensure that a director confirmed by the Senate can be trusted to run the Bureau.”