Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley questioned President Trump's nominee for FBI Director during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday. Senators asked Patel to clarify his position on the president's pardon of people involved in the January 6 Capitol riots.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel.
Kash Patel, an attorney nominated to lead the FBI, was questioned by Iowa Senator and Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Thursday.
Patel is a controversial pick in some circles. He falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged. The former government lawyer also publicly celebratedthe success of a national anthem recording made by some January 6 defendants.
Grassley: “So explain your position on January 6 to this committee and how do you respond to critics who say that you’re anti-law enforcement?”
Patel: “I have repeatedly, often, publicly and privately said there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement.”
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin pressed him further after citing the violent histories of some of the pardoned January 6 defendants.
Durbin: “Was President Trump wrong to give blanket clemency to the January 6 defendants?”
Patel: “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement.”
Grassley says he never makes up his mind until after a committee hearing is over, but in a video statement released on Wednesday he spoke positively about Patel.
