Takeaways from FBI director nominee Kash Patel’s combative confirmation hearing

President Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel, downplayed his past promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Trump’s opponents on Thursday at his combative Senate confirmation hearing.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to pin down Patel over past comments praising the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, his public courtship of influencers in the QAnon conspiracy movement and his promise to go after current and former Justice Department and FBI officials that he once put on a list of “corrupt actors.”

So far, no Republicans have publicly stated their opposition to Patel’s nomination, and none raised concerns at the hearing. Democratic senators grilled Patel throughout the day, but he claimed they were cherry-picking excerpts of old comments to make him look bad.

The role of FBI director is supposed to be a 10-year term, to insulate the position from politics. After winning in November, Trump made clear that he’d fire FBI chief Chris Wray, so Wray resigned. As a result, Patel is now on a clear path to leading the FBI very soon.

Here’s what to know about Thursday’s hearing:

There is no ‘enemies list,’ Patel says

Retribution was the overarching theme of the day.

Democrats homed in on Patel’s well-documented record – in TV interviews, podcast appearances, his books and social media posts – of calling for punishments against the people he believes are part of the “deep state” that has attempted to undermine Trump.

They raised concerns about what they called an “enemies list,” from Patel’s 2023 book, “Government Gangsters.” CNN reported that some of the 60 officials on that list are taking drastic steps to protect their families, fearing that Patel will weaponize his FBI powers.

“I have no interest, no desire, and will not, If confirmed, go backwards,” Patel said. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI.”

Patel later said, “it’s not an enemies list – that is a total mischaracterization.”

Before the hearing, some advisers had encouraged Patel to express regret for his comments about the people on his list. He didn’t take that path during the hearing.

And during the hearing, CNN reported that some senior FBI leaders who were promoted by Wray were demoted or reassigned, feeding the fears of internal recriminations. Patel said during Thursday’s hearing that he wasn’t aware of any plans to punish FBI agents involved in the various Trump probes and that “no one will be terminated for case assignments.”

GOP wants Patel to ‘teach’ FBI a lesson

Despite Patel saying he didn’t want to look backwards, Republican lawmakers encouraged him to do just that. They brought up gripes about the 2016 Trump-Russia probe, the Hunter Biden investigation and other actions they believe were motivated by anti-Trump bias.

In his opening statement, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the GOP chair of the Judiciary committee, said he believed that Justice Department and FBI leaders who previously investigated Trump “have yet to learn a lesson and I hope you’ll learn that lesson for them – or teach that lesson.”

Later in the hearing, GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Patel, “Do you believe in the adage that two wrongs don’t make a right – but they do make it even?”

“Senator, I think if anyone commits a wrong in government service, the American public deserve to know every absolute detail of that corrupt activity,” Patel responded.

These lines of inquiry that Republicans want Patel to pursue will very likely tee up a clash between Patel at the FBI and other US intelligence agencies, who were also involved in the Russia probe. Patel and these agencies have tangled over this and other topics for years.

Break from Trump on January 6 clemency

Under questioning from Democrats, Patel said he opposes Trump’s commutations that freed from prison hundreds of convicted January 6 rioters who attacked police officers.

“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” he said, breaking from Trump.

On Trump’s first day in office, he pardoned more than 1,200 convicted rioters and granted commutations to 14 convicts tied to far-right extremist groups. These clemency actions freed hundreds of violent rioters from prison, including many who assaulted police.

“As for January 6, I have repeatedly, often, publicly and privately, said there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement,” Patel told lawmakers.

But Democrats argued that his comments were disingenuous, because he helped raise money for January 6 defendants, including some accused of and convicted of violent felony crimes, like beating and pepper-spraying members of the US Capitol Police.