FBI chief faces scrutiny over Epstein files, agency policies

FBI Director Kash Patel faced sharp scrutiny Tuesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee over his leadership of the bureau, with lawmakers sparring over the Jeffrey Epstein files, immigration-related violence, FBI hiring standards, and his decision to sue a magazine over a report on his alleged drinking.

Patel defended the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, saying the FBI had complied with the Epstein Files Transparency Act and court orders and released about 3.5 million pages. “We have complied with the statute,” Patel said, adding that the bureau would examine any genuinely new information.

Democrats accused the FBI of protecting President Donald Trump from fallout over Epstein while failing to provide survivors with adequate transparency and accountability.

Patel also defended his decision to file a defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine and journalist Sarah Fitzpatrick over a report alleging he has a drinking problem that interfered with his work. “She printed false material. I’m taking her to court,” Patel said, arguing that he had the right to defend himself as a private citizen.

Asked by Sen. Peter Welch whether the FBI had investigated Fitzpatrick, Patel said no. “The FBI investigates criminals, and the FBI does not investigate personal matters,” he said. The response came after reports that the bureau had opened an investigation into the journalist.

The hearing also focused on the deadly shootings this January of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota during an controversial ICE crackdown. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota pressed Patel on whether the FBI would support criminal investigations and provide information to the families.

“We will fully support all those investigations,” Patel said, regardless of whether they were led by state or federal authorities. Asked whether the FBI would support timely and thorough investigations of officer-involved shootings more broadly, he replied: “When we are the lead agency, yes.”

Soon after the shootings, Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the FBI had blocked it from examining evidence in the cases.

Sen. Dick Durbin also challenged Patel over the FBI’s handling of shootings involving federal immigration officers in Illinois, including the shooting of Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent and the killing of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez by an ICE agent.

Patel said investigations were “ongoing” and involved multiple federal agencies, adding that the FBI had to work with state and local partners before the Justice Department could determine what action was appropriate.

Patel further defended a policy change removing certain incidents of bestiality or animal cruelty from before the age of 18 from the FBI’s list of automatic hiring disqualifiers. He said the change was designed to prevent victims of trafficking or coercion from being automatically excluded from consideration.

“We are not going to criminalize and prevent victims from serving the United States,” Patel said.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy questioned why the FBI had addressed the issue at all. Patel acknowledged that his initial reaction was similar but said officials had shown him cases involving people who had been forced into such acts.

Patel portrayed the bureau’s broader record as one of major public safety gains, citing 54,000 violent -criminal arrests, more than 5,000 arrests of child predators and human traffickers, and the seizure of more than 3,200 kilograms (7,055 pounds) of fentanyl.

Democrats disputed his claims and accused Patel of politicizing the FBI. Durbin called him “the least qualified and most partisan FBI director” in US history.