Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.), a Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel to head the FBI is as “offensive” as his derailed choice of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to head the Justice Department.
Padilla made it clear in an interview with “Inside with Jen Psaki” that he will vote against Patel and expressed his hope that the controversial nominee would withdraw from consideration like Gaetz did last month.
“The fact that he’s a conspiracy theorist is just the beginning of this process. You know, there’s still time for Donald Trump or the team around him to come to true senses, just as they did with Matt Gaetz,” Padilla told the MSNBC host.
Patel, when he was serving in Trump’s Defense Department in 2020, promoted unsubstantiated claims that the presidential election was stolen, becoming so vocal on the subject that his superiors at the Pentagon warned him not to breach the line separating politics and the military.
He continued to promote Trump’s stolen election theory in the years afterward despite Trump Attorney General William Barr’s assurances that the Justice Department could not find any evidence of widespread fraud claimed by Trump and his allies.
Patel has called for closing the FBI’s headquarters in Washington, DC, and firing its top ranks. He would transfer the bureau’s leadership authority to FBI outposts in other parts of the country.
Padilla says those views cross a red line for him.
“I know how I’m going to vote for someone who believes in conspiracy theories, denies the results of the 2020 election, and then says, ‘I’m going to run the FBI by shutting down FBI headquarters.’ Are you kidding me?” he said.
In the end, Patel’s nomination will come down to Senate Republicans, not Democrats.
And GOP senators so far have given a lukewarm reception to the nomination, with some offering enthusiasm and others suggesting Patel will need to answer questions about his qualifications and relevant experience if he is to lead the nation’s premier law enforcement agency.
“I think those are all just things that Mr. Patel needs be ready to come up with a good answer when he starts visiting with people on Capitol Hill,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who will take over as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2025, posted on X that “Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform & restore public trust in [the] FBI.”
