Durbin calls for investigation into Patel's role in FBI firings
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is asking the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inspector general to investigate “highly credible information” that Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to head the FBI, is already directing a “purge” of the bureau before he’s been confirmed by the Senate.
Durbin said that Patel’s “directives” are being carried out by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove and members of the “newly-established” FBI director’s advisory team.
“I have received highly credible information from multiple sources that Kash Patel has been personally directing the ongoing purge of career civil servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Durbin wrote in a letter to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
“Although Mr. Patel is President Trump’s nominee to be FBI Director, he is still a private citizen with no role in government,” he said. “This alleged misconduct is beyond the pale and must be investigated immediately.”
Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the information also contradicts Patel’s statements during his confirmation hearing.
Durbin wrote that acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll and acting FBI Deputy Director Robert Kissane scheduled a meeting on Jan. 29 at which “it was relayed” that a group of executive assistant directors and other supervisors must resign or be fired.
He said the director’s advisory team had a written list that identified certain officials, and that multiple FBI leaders understood it to be a list of “people in the crosshairs.”
Durbin said that notes from the Jan. 29 meeting stated that “KP wants movement at FBI, reciprocal actions for DOJ” and that Bove, the deputy attorney general, told people in the meeting that he had received multiple calls from Miller, the deputy White House chief of staff, the night before.
“Mr. Miller was pressuring him because Mr. Patel wanted the FBI to remove targeted employees faster, as DOJ had already done with prosecutors,” Durbin wrote to Horowitz.
The Justice Department fired at least a dozen members of former special counsel Jack Smith’s team earlier this month, saying those who worked on President Trump’s two criminal cases could not be trusted to carry out his agenda.
Meanwhile Trump’s team has purged the leadership of the FBI, firing the top five career positions that report to the director, while also forcing out the heads of several field offices.
The agents that worked on Trump’s two criminal cases were escorted out of the office earlier this month.
And the Justice Department has demanded the FBI turn over a detailed list of every agent that worked on investigating the more than 1,500 people prosecuted in connection with storming the Capitol.
Agents are now suing the Trump administration, alleging the bureau and Justice Department might seek to release the names, exposing them to retaliation. The Justice Department later agreed not to release the names of any agents while litigation is ongoing.
Durbin said that according to his own “sources,” Patel is receiving information from the director’s advisory team and then “provides direction” to Miller, who relays it to Bove.
“It is unacceptable for a nominee with no current role in government, much less at the FBI, to personally direct unjustified and potentially illegal adverse employment actions against senior career FBI leadership and other dedicated, nonpartisan law enforcement officers,” Durbin wrote.
He said that if the allegations are true, then Patel may have perjured himself during his Jan. 30 Senate confirmation hearing when he told Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) that he was “not aware” of any plans or discussions to punish FBI agents or personnel associated with the investigations of Trump.
“I don’t know what’s going on right now over there, but I’m committed to you, senator, and your colleagues, that I will honor the internal review process of the FBI,” Patel told Booker after the senator had stressed that agents could only be fired after a review showing they had failed to meet performance standards.
At other points in the hearing, Booker reminded Patel he was under oath.
Erica Knight, Patel’s spokesperson, fired back on Tuesday, saying “the media is relying on anonymous sources and second-hand gossip to push a false narrative."
"Kash Patel is a highly qualified national security expert who has been fully transparent with the American people throughout this process and has demonstrated the integrity and leadership needed for this role," she added.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI and Horowitz’s office declined to comment.
Durbin warned that removing senior leaders and threatening the removal of thousands of FBI agents would potentially be “disastrous.”
“The leadership and experience vacuum created by these actions has greatly weakened the FBI’s ability to protect the country from national security threats and has made Americans less safe,” he warned.
Durbin’s latest letter comes after he fired off a series of requests to Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi asking about coordination with the Trump transition team on any firings.
Durbin told The Hill that he hopes the news will cause his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee to reconsider their support for Patel when the panel votes on his nomination Thursday.
“I hope that the Republicans will take it seriously. I do. To think that this man is dismissing people from the FBI before he has any responsibility legally or otherwise, it’s just an indication of how ambitious he is, how determined he is for a political goal, and how dangerous he would be to be given a 10-year tenure in the Department of Justice,” Durbin said.
Trump fired 17 inspectors general last month but left Horowitz, who was sworn into his office in 2012.
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