Senate Judiciary Committee top Democrats accusing President Kash Patel of secretly coordinating FBI officials of shootings on FBI officials the day after he was sworn in. I sent a letter to the Ministry inspector. I know the plan to do so.
“If these allegations were true, Patel could have forged himself before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Sen. Dick Durbin wrote.
Durbin said Patel told the whistleblower who told him he was passing instructions to Stephen Miller of the White House Deputy Chiefs of Staff.
“I have received very reliable information from multiple sources that Kash Patel personally directs the continued removal of career civil servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Durbin wrote in the letter. It’s there. “Patel is a candidate for President Trump to become FBI director, but he is a private citizen who still doesn’t play a role in the government.”
First reported by the New York Times, Durbin was the day before Patel’s confirmation hearing, where Patel and Miller said they were seeking a shooting at the FBI, as Patel and Miller had already happened at the Department of Justice I explained about the meeting.
“A simultaneous note from that morning’s meeting: “KP wants to move in the FBI, wants mutual action for the DOJ,” wrote Durbin.
In a social media post, Patel spokesman Erika Knight did not directly address Durbin’s letter, but denounced what she described as a “false story.”
“Kash Patel is a high-quality national security expert who is completely transparent with Americans throughout this process and demonstrates the integrity and leadership required for this role,” she writes. . “The Senate should check him out without delay.”
During a confirmation hearing in Patel on January 30, Durbin told Sen. Corey Booker of DN.J. that he had heard of plans or discussions that would be punished in any way, including termination, FBI agents or related personnel. I asked if there was.” Trump investigation?
Patel replied, “I don’t know about that.” Patel next added, “I don’t know what’s going on there, but I’m committed to the Senator and your colleagues to respect the FBI’s internal review process.”
Patel also said at the hearing that “all FBI employees will be protected from political retaliation.”
Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll call via Getty Images file)
The next day, FBI director Brian Driscoll sent a note to the entire FBI workforce saying that he had been ordered to remove eight senior FBI executives by Bove, who previously worked as Trump’s defense attorney. Ta. Driscoll also said he was told to hand over the names of all FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 mob investigation.
Driscoll rejected the Department of Justice order, assisting in the fire of an agent involved in the January 6 riot case, and forced him back to the point where FBI officials feared he would be rejected, according to multiple current states. and a former FBI official previously told NBC News.
Continuous fear of mass firing
The Trump administration also called on the FBI’s field office and headquarters to recently join the department, with the results justifying the continued employment of 3,600 branch employees on probation status.
The FBI Agents Association, a group that represents agents but is not a union, said special agents on probation have already received extensive training at Quantico’s FBI Academy. They say agents are already working on an aggressive investigation and mass layoffs can disrupt them.
In an interview with NBC News Tuesday, Natalie Bala, president of the FBI Agents Association, said it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to train agents from their initial application to Quantico graduation.
Bala said mass shootings need to affect the bureau for many years as 800-1,000 special agents need to be added each year to replace the special agents leaving.
“It makes no sense to turn around and fire or fire an agent who has already gone through this process,” Bala said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote for Patel’s nomination on Thursday. It is unclear whether Durbin’s perjury claim will affect Republican senators who have defended Patel uniformly.
If his appointment is approved by the committee, the full Senate will vote on whether to confirm Patel for 10 years as FBI Director.
Here are five things you need to know about former federal prosecutor Kash Patel:
This story first appeared on nbcnews.com. More from NBC News:
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