Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Sunday that the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans shows that Kash Patel “should not be confirmed” as President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the FBI.
Schiff told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the terrorist attack “underscores” why it is important to have an FBI director “who has experience, judgment, character, who prioritizes defending the country against the violence we saw in New York.” “. Orleans or the violence we saw on January 6.”
Schiff added that the Senate should not confirm “someone whose top priority is political vendettas, who believes in deep state conspiratorial thinking, not someone as unqualified as Kash Patel.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schiff’s comments.
Patel, a former Trump loyalist, has previously been criticized for promoting the falsehood that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Trump. He has also previously spread baseless conspiracy theories that “deep state” officials are working to overthrow Trump.
After Trump said in December that he would nominate Patel to lead the FBI, comments Patel made in 2023 to another Trump ally resurfaced. In a podcast recorded with Steve Bannon, Patel vowed that Trump will “go after” journalists, lawyers and judges who, in his opinion, have not treated Trump fairly.
“We will follow the facts and the law and go to court and correct these judges and lawyers who have been prosecuting these cases based on politics,” Patel said.
“We will go out and find the conspirators, not only in the government but in the media; Yes, we are going to go after people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig the presidential election,” he added.
In an interview with “Meet the Press” on Friday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he believed Patel would prioritize the FBI’s mission and rebuilding trust in the institution if confirmed. .
“I think the FBI is an agency that needs reform and a good makeover, so to speak. …I think trust and confidence [in the FBI] it is largely eroded and there is an opportunity to fix it,” Thune told moderator Kristen Welker.
“I sat down and met with him. I think he understands that that is the mission, and if he is successful in the nomination process, I hope that he will take that responsibility very seriously and focus on what he can do to make the FBI operate in a way that protects the American people and also be responsible,” Thune added.
When asked if he intends to back Patel when the full Senate votes on his confirmation, Thune declined to share his position.
“I have not announced or revealed my positions on individual nominees at this time, but my job is to make sure they have a fair process,” he said.
