"A defiant Kash Patel on Tuesday denied Democratic senators' accusations that the firings of top FBI agents were politically motivated and insisted he was staying as the bureau's director despite reports that the White House had grown concerned with his leadership. I'm not going anywhere. If you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on. Over to you, Patel said at the conclusion of his opening statement to the Senate judiciary committee,"
"What I am doing is protecting this country, providing historic reforms and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you, Patel told California's Adam Schiff in a heated back-and-forth that devolved into name-calling. Schiff, a longtime antagonist of Donald Trump, had pressed the director on why the Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell had been moved to a lower-security federal prison after speaking with a top justice department official in July, prompting Patel to insist he was not involved in that decision."
"Demands that the Trump administration provide more transparency into its investigation of Epstein, who died while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019, loomed large over the hearing, but Patel gave little ground, insisting that a court order prevented him from making public further documents related to the case. Other Democrats zeroed in on reporting, including from Fox News over the weekend, that top aides to Trump were losing faith in Patel."
Kash Patel denied accusations that firings of top FBI agents were politically motivated and said he will remain bureau director. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee, "I'm not going anywhere," and invited criticism of his 16 years of service. The four-and-a-half-hour hearing included angry exchanges and at least one shouting match. Patel framed his actions as protecting the country, delivering reforms, and combating weaponized intelligence. He rejected involvement in Ghislaine Maxwell's prison transfer and used personal insults against Senator Adam Schiff. Patel said a court order prevents releasing additional Epstein-related documents. Democrats cited reports that White House aides had lost faith in him.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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