 "Kash Patel, President Donald Trump's choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, on Thursday. AP")
US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, Kash Patel, on Thursday greeted his parents with “Jai Shri Krishna” during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing and expressed gratitude to them for travelling from India to be with him on the day.
“I like to welcome my father and my mother Anjana who are sitting here today. They travelled to get here from India. My sister is also here. She also travelled the oceans just to be with me here today. It means the world that you guys are here. Jai Shri Krishna,” he said.
Patel, an Indian-origin nominee chosen by President Trump to head the FBI, positioned himself as the ideal candidate to rebuild public trust in the law enforcement agency, which he argued has lost credibility.
“The erosion of trust, as Chairman Grassley pointed out, is all too low today. 40% of Americans have trust in the FBI. To get it back, there’s a twofold track, Senator,” he said.
Patel emphasised tackling violent crime as his primary objective, referencing statistics from 2023.
“Just in 2023 alone, there were 100,000 rapes, 100,000 drug overdoses and 17,000 homicides. The priority of the FBI, if I’m confirmed, will be to ensure that our communities are protected and safeguarded and our children have parks to play in, and not needles to walk over,” he said.
He also committed to greater cooperation with Congress, promising to respond to all appropriate requests for information.
“Members of Congress have unfortunately submitted hundreds of questions that have been unanswered by the FBI in recent times. That will not occur if I am confirmed. All appropriate requests for information will be responded to expeditiously and fully,” Patel asserted.
During the hearing, Democrats argued that he is an unrepentant conspiracy theorist and brought up a list of 60 supposed “deep state” actors - all critics of Trump - he included in a 2022 book, whom he said should be investigated or “otherwise reviled.”
Senator Dick Durbin, the panel’s top Democrat, said Patel had “neither the experience, the temperament nor the judgment to lead” the FBI.
Patel has denied that he has an “enemies list,” and told the committee he was merely interested in bringing lawbreakers to book.
In one unexpected exchange he distanced himself from at least some of Trump’s pardons of hundreds of criminals convicted of violence over the 2021 US Capitol insurrection.
“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” he said.
With inputs from agencies