The hearing heated up when Patel got into a tense back-and-forth with Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar when she tried to smear him as being unqualified.
“Simply this: if the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI. I STOOD with them, here in this country, in every theater of war we have – I was on the ground in service,” Patel said.
“And any accusations that I would put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair and I will have you reminded I have been endorsed by over 300,000 law enforcement officers to become the next director of the FBI. Let’s ask them,” he added.
Patel rejected Democrats taking his old comments out of context to “score cheap political points.”
“In the collective, all of those statements are taken out of grotesque context,” he said.
Patel accused his critics of “intentionally putting false information into the public ether and creating more public discourse. The only thing that will matter if I am confirmed as director of the FBI is a de-weaponized, depoliticized system of law enforcement completely devoted to rigorous obedience of the Constitution and a singular standard of justice.”
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“I have always respected law enforcement,” Patel said. “I have taken that oath and will take that oath again, God willing, to be the next director of the FBI.”
Patel again reiterated that “there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement and anyone that commits an act of violence against law enforcement must be investigated, prosecuted and imprisoned. On Jan. 6, I said the same thing about acts against law enforcement.”
He praised the Capitol Police for their response on Jan. 6 and said he will call out corruption in government because it is a “privilege to serve this nation.”
Patel also rejected claims that he has promoted QAnon conspiracy theories.
“I have publicly … rejected outright QAnon baseless conspiracy theories or any other baseless conspiracy theories. They must be addressed head-on with the truth,” he said.
Patel used his opening statement to say that he is committed to “justice, fairness and the rule of law,” and said American values have been the “driving force” of his career.
“Protecting the rights of the Constitution is of the utmost importance to me,” Patel said.
Patel said that working as a public defender early in his career made him realize how important it is to follow the law.
Patel then explained his two-part plan to make people trust the FBI more.
“We must tackle violent crime,” he said. “The priority of the FBI, if I am confirmed, is to ensure that our communities are protected and safeguarded and our children have parks to play in and not needles to walk over. The way we do this: we let good cops be cops.”
The second prong, he said, is aggressive constitutional oversight from Congress.
“The public trust can only be restored if there is full transparency,” he said.
Patel promised to quickly and completely answer any questions from Congress that were appropriate.
“I am committed to working alongside the dedicated men and women of the FBI,” he said. “They are our warriors of justice and I will always have their backs because they have the backs of the American people.”
