FBI Director Kash Patel faces lawmakers in Senate oversight hearing

• FBI Director Kash Patel will appear in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing this morning.

• The chairman of the committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, has previously asked Patel to defend his use of FBI aircraft and purchase of BMWs.

• Patel has come under criticism over allegations of excessive drinking, use of FBI resources and purging agents linked to Trump probes . The FBI director said he’s “never been intoxicated on the job,” defending his actions while in his position and suing The Atlantic over its reporting .

• During a Senate hearing in May, Patel sparred with Democrats when asked about the drinking allegations and a trip to Italy during the Olympics earlier this year, where Patel was seen partying with the gold-medal-winning US men’s hockey team in their locker room.

Kash Patel will testify before Senate committee on FBI oversight this morning

Today’s Senate hearing on the oversight of the FBI will be starting in less than an hour, at 9 a.m. ET. FBI Director Kash Patel will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee as part of the hearing.

Patel was confirmed as FBI director in February 2025, in a 51 to 49 Senate vote.

Then, during his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel said there would be “no politicization” at the FBI and “no retributive actions.” He also accused Democrats of cherry-picking excerpts of old comments.

Patel, a former public defender, was raised Hindu by his immigrant parents, according to his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy.”

He wrote that he grew up apolitical but became more right-wing during his time at the University of Richmond.

Patel spent stints in the public defender’s office in Miami-Dade County and in the Southern District of Florida before going on to work as a federal prosecutor in the National Security Division of the DOJ, according to his book.

He has also previously heavily criticized the FBI in the past.

In a 2024 podcast interview, before he became its director, he called for the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, to be dismantled and turned into a “museum of the deep state.”

CNN’s Clare Foran, Morgan Rimmer and Jack Forrest contributed to this reporting.

• 联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔将于今天上午出席参议院司法委员会的监督听证会。

• 委员会主席查克·格拉斯利参议员此前曾要求帕特尔为他使用联邦调查局飞机和购买宝马汽车的行为进行辩护。

帕特尔因被指控酗酒过度、滥用联邦调查局资源以及清洗与特朗普调查相关的特工而受到批评。这位联邦调查局局长表示，他“从未在工作期间醉酒”，并为自己任职期间的行为辩护，同时还就《大西洋月刊》的报道提起诉讼。

• 在 5 月份的一次参议院听证会上，当被问及饮酒指控以及今年早些时候奥运会期间前往意大利的行程时，帕特尔与民主党人发生了争执。当时，有人看到帕特尔在更衣室里与获得金牌的美国男子冰球队一起狂欢。

卡什·帕特尔今天上午将在参议院联邦调查局监督委员会作证

今天，参议院将举行关于监督联邦调查局的听证会，时间是美国东部时间上午9点，不到一个小时后开始。联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔将出席参议院司法委员会的听证会。

2025年2月，帕特尔以51票对49票的参议院投票结果被确认为联邦调查局局长。

随后，在参议院的确认听证会上，帕特尔表示，联邦调查局不会“政治化”，也不会采取“报复行动”。他还指责民主党人断章取义地引用他过去的言论。

据帕特尔 2023 年出版的《政府匪帮：深层政府、真相与民主之战》一书所述，这位前公设辩护律师由他的移民父母抚养长大，信奉印度教。

他写道，他从小对政治不感兴趣，但在里士满大学就读期间，他的政治立场变得更加右倾。

据帕特尔的书中记载，他曾在迈阿密-戴德县和佛罗里达州南区的公设辩护人办公室工作过一段时间，之后在司法部国家安全司担任联邦检察官。

他过去也曾多次严厉批评联邦调查局。

在 2024 年的一次播客采访中（当时他还没有成为该机构的负责人），他呼吁拆除该机构位于华盛顿特区的总部，并将其改造成“深层政府博物馆”。

CNN的克莱尔·福兰、摩根·里默和杰克·福雷斯特对本报道亦有贡献。