FBI Director Kash Patel Senate hearing live updates: Clashes over Epstein files, bureau boss’ leadership
FBI Director Kash Patel is in the hot seat on Capitol Hill Tuesday, facing a grilling by the Senate Judiciary Committee over his leadership at the bureau.
The hearing kicked off at 9 a.m. with fiery showdowns between Patel and Democrats on the panel.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the committee, has said Patel lacks “experience, judgment, and temperament to lead the FBI” and called for him to be “replaced immediately.”
On the GOP side, Patel is expected to be asked about the Trump administration’s investigation into alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Patel last faced the committee in September 2025.
Follow The Post’s live updates for the latest on Kash Patel’s hearing, plus photo, reactions and more:
Sen. Marsha Blackburn hails FBI's crime crackdown in Memphis, which has highest homicide rate in country
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) commended FBI Director Kash Patel for the bureau's efforts to tackle crime in Memphis, which had the highest homicides per capita of any city in the country.
"We're coming up on one year of the Memphis Safe Task Force, and every day I get a report from the task force, and it shows where we are year to date," Blackburn, who is running to be Tennessee governor.
"We have had right at 13,000 arrests; we have apprehended over 1400 known gang members," she added.
"There are over 2,100 illegal firearms that have been recovered and removed from the streets."
Patel responded, recalling how Blackburn pressed him during his confirmation hearing to tackle homicides in Memphis, and how the Trump administration set up a task force in response.
"We build a systematic campaign to collect intelligence and drive out the actual root causes of the crime of gang warfare, which was the problem plaguing Memphis and the problem plaguing localized, cities across America," Patel said.
Sneak peek at Kash Patel's notes for hearing: 'DURBIN INFO'
We got a glimpse at Kash Patel's notes prepared for the oversight hearing, with one page titled, "DURBIN INFO."
The FBI director came ready with several bullet points' worth of jabs to make at Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) — several about the congressman's wife, Loretta Schaefer Durbin.
The first line on Patel's list points to Durbin's wealth, asserting that it has "increased 364% since 1997."
"Wife has lobbying conflicts," another line reads.
Schaefer Durbin created a lobbying firm with a partner in 1977, and went on to start a leadership institute in Illinois to help train Democratic women to run for office, according to The Sun.
Sen. Kennedy pushes Patel to confirm that people who have sex with animals can't be FBI agents: 'What about the bestiality?'
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) picked up on Sen. Dick Durbin's (D-Ill.) line of questioning about the FBI's policy change on bestiality, using his southern charm to clear that issue up.
"What about the bestiality?" Kennedy asked after delving into the FBI's revised hiring standards. "...I'm trying to understand why you did this. ... People try to make you look bad. ... So I'm trying to get to the bottom of this."
Patel explained that the prior policy banned victims who were forced into bestiality from serving in the FBI.
"A lot of these cases, when human traffickers, who are some of the worst individuals on planet Earth, they don't just traffic you for prostitution; they traffic you for degrading acts of all kinds," he explained. "And some of these individuals would go on to be law enforcement officers."
That prompted Kennedy to clarify one key point: "You're not telling us today that if a human being had sex with an animal, that they can still be an FBI agent?"
"No, they can't be can't," Patel said.
Patel, Durbin spar over Epstein files; FBI boss quips, 'You could have passed that law' under Biden
FBI Director Kash Patel sparred with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, over a range of issues.
At one point, Patel reminded Durbin that Democrats could've pursued the files on late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein during the Biden administration.
"The Epstein files — 3.5 million pages have been released by this administration," Patel said. "The prior administration, zero pages were released."
Durbin knocked Patel in response: "You just missed one important point. You may remember it. Congress had to pass a law requiring the disclosure of the Epstein files."
"You could have passed that law in the Biden administration," Patel fired back.
Kash Patel's girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, shows up to watch his grilling before Congress
FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend, country music singer and actress Alexis Wilkins, 27, is in the room for his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kash Patel touts surge in document sharing with Congress, says it's up by 350%
FBI Director Kash Patel claimed that the bureau has had a 350% increase in document sharing with Congress.
"As you know, I'm committed to transparency. In just the first 18 months, we've shared nearly 50,000 pages of documents with the Senate and the House," he said.
"To put that in perspective, that's a 350% increase from the prior two directors combined in 11 years."
FBI has nabbed every criminal on its Top 10 Most Wanted List, Kash Patel says
FBI Director Kash Patel informed the Senate Judiciary Committee that the bureau has nabbed every criminal on its Top 10 Most Wanted List, and rattled through other various feats accomplished under his watch.
"Mr. Chairman, I'm proud to announce today, and I hate to correct you, we haven't captured nine of the Top 10 Most [Wanted] individuals on our list. We've captured ten," Patel said.
"Nobody in the FBI's history has done that," he claimed.
Patel expanded upon the rosy statistics that Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) ticked through during his opening remarks earlier.
"This FBI has found and located more children than any FBI in the history of this country," Patel said. "...Just this past weekend, this FBI stopped another ISIS-inspired attack in Pittsburgh, arresting an individual before he was able to go out and kill innocent civilians."
The FBI honcho also touted his efforts to modernize the bureau's backlog, and the recent clearing of the backlog at its DNA laboratory in Quantico.
Dick Durbin unloads on Kash Patel, who glares back: 'Least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation's history'
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, unloaded on FBI Director Kash Patel, accusing him of being hyper-partisan and purging qualified law enforcement personnel.
"Mr. Patel is the least qualified and most partisan FBI director in our nation's history," Durbin declared as Patel glared at him.
"He does not have the judgment, experience or temperament of [ex-FBI] Director [Robert] Mueller before he was confirmed.
"Under Mr. Patel's failed leadership, decades of efforts to modernize and reform the FBI are being undone, and the bureau has been reshaped as a political weapon against President Trump's political enemies, and a shield to protect the president and his MAGA loyalists," he added.
"Director Patel has been the central figure pushing the so-called 'grand conspiracy,' diverting FBI resources to inane, debunked conspiracy theories that the deep state has been targeting President Trump since his first campaign."
Chuck Grassley lauds FBI's crackdown on crime: 'Solid work'
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley lauded the FBI's crackdown on crime, touting numerous feats about arrests going up for heinous offenses.
"According to data provided to this committee in the past 18 months, criminal arrests are up 80%," Grassley said. "Violent crime arrests are up 90%, Gang and criminal enterprise arrests are up 30% as compared to the preceding 18 months."
Grassley also noted that the bureau helped identify over 11,000 children who suffered from a crime and helped arrest over 5,000 child predators, up 21% and 13% from the prior 18 months, respectively.
"During your tenure, nine of the FBI's top ten fugitives have been captured," Grassley said. "These data points show solid work by the men and women of the FBI under your leadership."
Kash Patel's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee kicks off
The Senate Judiciary Committee kicked off its oversight hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel in what is expected to feature fiery showdowns with Democrats on the panel.
Kash Patel to face grilling from Senate Dems over leadership concerns
FBI Director Kash Patel will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Patel will likely face tough questions from Democrats who have questioned his leadership, personnel changes and allocating of resources. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin called on Patel to be "replaced immediately."
Meanwhile, Patel is likely to tout violent crime rates plummeting in the US. A new FBI report showed the biggest one-year drop on record in violent crime rates. Data showed violent crime was down 9.3% 2025 from 2024.
“The 2025 crime statistics exemplify the great work this FBI and our law enforcement partners on the front line are doing to crush violent crime,” Patel wrote of the report.
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