Patel to undergo House hearing after rigorous Senate questioning

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(The Center Square) – After a five-hour-long hearing before a Senate committee Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel is set to undergo a second hearing before a House committee Wednesday.

On Tuesday, in its annual FBI oversight hearing, a Senate committee grilled Director Kash Patel over the politicization of the organization and whether the Bureau is overloaded under the new administration. It was also revealed that under Patel’s predecessor, Chris Wray, the FBI had “sought to investigate” Charlie Kirk’s nonprofit, Turning Point USA.

Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, praised Patel for changes he has brought to the agency, rattling off several former FBI investigations that he believed to be politically motivated – one of which included Kirk’s organization. 

Operation Arctic Frost was an investigation into whether President Donald Trump had tried to overturn the 2020 election, and it was expanded to include 92 Republican individuals or organizations. 

“Arctic Frost wasn't just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley said.

The Republican National Committee, Republican Attorneys General Association, and various other groups including Turning Point USA were “placed under the investigative scope of Arctic Frost,” according to Grassley. 

The operation “was a vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and department justice prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus,” Grassley said.

Wray was appointed by Trump during his first term and is a registered Republican. The president replaced Wray with Patel this year.

However, committee Democrats insinuated that Patel has also politicized the FBI in the seven months he has been its director by firing or disciplining FBI personnel for having participated in cases Trump opposes. They repeatedly cited a statement Patel made during his confirmation hearing that “there will be no politicization at the FBI” and “there will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI should I be confirmed as the FBI director.”

“I want to better understand the scope of the turnover and the changes occurring at the FBI since January, 20, 2025. How many FBI employees have retired, resigned, been fired, or otherwise separated from employment? I need a number,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.

“I’ll get you a number,” Patel said.

“Would it surprise you to know that it's probably in the thousands, like 5,000?” Hirono pressed. 

“I don’t think that number is accurate,” Patel responded. “We will get you the numbers. Anyone that retires is of their own volition, and anyone that has terminated the FBI, as I've said before, is done so because they have failed to meet the standards and uphold their loyalty and oath to the Constitution.”

Later, Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., again questioned Patel on whether FBI agents had been fired for political reasons.

“Firing FBI employees based solely on the cases that they are investigating your case assignments is illegal,” said Schiff. “You know that a new lawsuit that's been discussed numerous times, filed by three FBI officials, alleges that you carried out Donald Trump's ‘campaign of retribution’ against FBI employees for ‘failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty.'”

“No one at the FBI is terminated for case assignments alone,” Patel said. 

“You’re saying ‘alone.’ Does that mean they were terminated in part because they were assigned to a January 6 case or assigned to the Mar-a-Lago case?” Schiff asked. “That means they were fired in part because they were assigned those cases. Is that your testimony?”

“Absolutely not, but if you want to keep putting words in my mouth, go ahead,” Patel responded. 

Patel insisted that it would not be possible to achieve everything the FBI has done under his leadership if any staffing changes had damaged the agency or its effectiveness.

Patel reported to the committee that the FBI has arrested 23,000 violent criminals, seized 6,000 illegal guns, arrested 1,500 child predators, 300 human traffickers and over 350 members of Tren de Aragua and rescued more than 4,700 children in the seven months since he has led the agency.

Patel added that the violent criminal arrests was “more than twice from the same time period last year,” the firearm seizures represented an “exponential increase,” and the Tren de Aragua arrests were up 250%. 

“How is it that we have counterintelligence arrests already this year, exceeding the numbers from the entirety of last year, 33% increase in PRC, 83% in Russia, 60% in the CI space, as it relates to Iran, and we haven't talked about CT the southern border before,” Patel said.