Sept. 17, 2025 10:59-12:01 - CSPAN
01:01:57
Transcriber: nvidia/parakeet-tdt-0.6b-v2, sat-12l-sm, and large-v3-turbo
Source
Participants
| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
Sealed Court Orders and Protected Videos
00:15:02
|
||
|
unidentified
|
To a seven-week funding package for the federal government beyond the September 30th deadline. | |
| Also, a resolution to honor conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed last week in Utah. | ||
| When lawmakers return, be sure to follow our live coverage of the House here on C-SPAN. | ||
| Our live Capitol Hill coverage continues as we take you to testimony now from FBI Director Kash Patel. | ||
| He's appearing before the House Judiciary Committee today. | ||
| We join this live in progress here on C-SPAN. | ||
| That is continues to be posed by international terrorists here in the United States is one of my highest priorities. | ||
| We are working through our intelligence community partners to identify those individuals, and we've taken down numerous individuals in numerous rings across this country to neutralize that terrorist threat, including places like New York City, Los Angeles, and I believe Dallas, Texas. | ||
| How extensively did criminal cartels like Sinaloa, Jalisco, New Generation, MS-13, Tarantiragua, and others infiltrate our country during the Biden administration? | ||
| By the tens of thousands. | ||
| And what progress have you been making in combating their presence? | ||
| I think the DHS is best to speak to that, but I think I can't remember the numbers of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of individuals they found that came in illegally and the tens of thousands at associations, the criminal networks have all been deported. | ||
| And that effort is being opposed every step of the way by Democratic leaders in our cities, some of our states, and right here in the Congress. | ||
| Isn't that true? | ||
| Well, we're just working where we can in every single city we can, and I welcome the opportunity to partner with Republicans or Democrats on fighting violent crime like we're doing. | ||
| Mr. Biggs asked about Arctic Frost. | ||
| What else can you tell us about that and what we need to do to assure that it never happens again? | ||
| Continue the congressional oversight work that you're doing on Arctic Frost. | ||
| Let me provide you with more documentation on Arctic Frost and also call in witnesses from the paperwork that we have given you. | ||
| You have that right and the American public deserves to hear what those people have to say. | ||
| As for my ongoing investigation, there's not much I can say. | ||
| What role did the FBI play in suppressing the Hunter Biden laptop story during the 2024 election? | ||
| Off the top of my memory, sir, I believe the FBI was in possession of verified information from that laptop, and it was improperly publicized that they did not have information and masked it as Russian disinformation. | ||
| We now know that was categorically false. | ||
| I don't know why the FBI did that when they did that, but we've released all the materials related to that. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman yields back. | |
| The gentleman from New York is recognized, Mr. Goldman. | ||
| Mr. Patel, does Donald Trump appear anywhere in the Epstein files? | ||
| I'm sorry, could you say that again? | ||
| It's not a complicated question. | ||
| Does Donald Trump appear anywhere in the Epstein files? | ||
| I didn't say it was a complicated question. | ||
| I just didn't hear you, so my apologies. | ||
| We have released where President Trump's names in the Epstein files and everybody else, and all credible information that we are illegally allowed to release has been released. | ||
| All right, so let's go through that. | ||
| You're referring to court orders that prohibit you from releasing grand jury testimony under Rule 6E. | ||
| Is that what you're referring to when you say as the law allows? | ||
| That's a piece of it. | ||
| Really? | ||
| What other evidence does those three court orders you cited prohibit from being released? | ||
| Information that was collected pursuant to those search warrants that were limited fashion. | ||
| Wrong. | ||
| That's not what the court order says, and that's not under 6E. | ||
| And you're talking, and I said that's 6E, and I said there were others, and I'm answering that. | ||
| There are sealed court order documents. | ||
| There are protective orders. | ||
| They are unsealed as part of discovery given to Ghelane Maxwell. | ||
| They are no longer sealed. | ||
| That's just not true. | ||
| We can argue about it all you want. | ||
| Okay, well, you agree that there are... | ||
| Wait, your testimony here is that the reason why you are not releasing all of the videos that you have acknowledged, there are so many, and that the FBI spent thousands of hours of reviewing the photographs... | ||
| all of the photographs that you have. | ||
| You're saying that you're not releasing those because there's a court order requiring them to be sealed? | ||
| Is that your testimony? | ||
| Never said that about the videos. | ||
| On the totality of the videos of the thousands of images that were seized pursuant to the search warrants executed at the time, the overwhelming majority of that video is pornographic material that was downloaded from the internet and child sexual abuse material. | ||
| We will never release that. | ||
| Well, as you should not release the victims, but if there are videos that relate to others who Epstein trafficked to, such as maybe Prince Andrew, or photographs, that you have total control to release. | ||
| Yes, and if it exists. | ||
| So, why haven't you released it? | ||
| Why are you supposing that that is a fact when in fact it is false? | ||
| Are you saying that none of the videos relate to anything relevant to the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking rule? | ||
| Every single video that we have collected pursuant to the prior search warrants has been examined for the last 10 years, and every single video has been utilized for whatever prosecutions were able to be legally brought. | ||
| I'm not asking about prosecutions. | ||
| I'm asking about why you aren't releasing the full Epstein files, including the names of people who were involved in the sex ring that you promised to do before you became FBI director. | ||
| I just told you, I'm not going to release downloaded pornography. | ||
| I'm not asking about that. | ||
| Fine. | ||
| I'm asking about all the other files. | ||
| What other videos? | ||
| Tell me. | ||
| Tell me. | ||
| That's what I'm asking. | ||
| Tell me. | ||
| You're saying there are no videos that would be relevant to anyone else involved in the Jeffrey Epstein sex. | ||
| Pursuant to Mr. Acosta's collection of information based on the search warrants. | ||
| That's all we have in our possession. | ||
| And I'm asking you, that stuff. | ||
| That's all we got. | ||
| I'm not asking all you got. | ||
| I'm asking you, in that stuff, there's nothing that's related to any other sex traffic, any other people engaged with Epstein in underage sex. | ||
| That's correct, to my knowledge, no. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay. | |
| Let's talk about the witness interviews. | ||
| 302s of witness interviews. | ||
| Those are not subject to the court order. | ||
| Those are not subject to any fictional sealed order for a search warrant. | ||
| Why aren't you releasing those with the redacted names of the victims? | ||
| We are releasing as much as legally allowed. | ||
| That's why we went back to the past. | ||
| How is that not legally allowed? | ||
| Sir, do you know how court orders work? | ||
| Do you know how protective orders work? | ||
| Actually, Mr. Patel, I was a real prosecutor for 10 years. | ||
| I know exactly how. | ||
| And I want to understand what the court order prevents you from releasing witness statements that the FBI took. | ||
| You should know that as a real prosecutor, when the court hand downs a protective order and a motion to seal, the material is sealed unless that's a good idea. | ||
| Your testimony here is that all of those witness statements are under a court order, a protective order. | ||
| We are providing everything we can legally provide. | ||
| Now, that's not my question. | ||
| My question is: why are those witness statements that are not grand jury testimony that if they were under a protective order are no longer under a protective order? | ||
| Why are they not being released? | ||
| How are they not under protective record? | ||
| Why are you not going to the court like you did for the grand jury testimony to unseal those records? | ||
| The DOJ did go to the court. | ||
| No, not on those records. | ||
| Why aren't you going you just went on grand jury? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Time of the gentleman has expired. | |
| You are hiding the Epstein files, Mr. Carpenter. | ||
| You are part of the cover-up. | ||
| Can I respond? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Sure can. | |
| Any allegations that I'm a part of a cover-up to protect child sexual trafficking in victims of human trafficking and sexual crimes is patently and categorically false in the work of my FBI. | ||
| So I hope you will talk to them when they're in the middle of time to speak with you. | ||
| Because the victims have yielded responding to them. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Director, yes or no? | |
| Is the FBI still spying on parents at school board meetings? | ||
| No, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still targeting Catholics? | |
| No, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still spying on President Trump? | |
| I don't believe so. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still censoring Americans? | |
| No, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still targeting Americans for shopping at Cabela's or purchasing Bibles? | |
| Nobody is targeted for their faith. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still targeting Americans who are pro-life? | |
| Nobody is targeting anyone for their beliefs. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still cooking the books on crime data? | |
| The crime data is real. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is the FBI still purging agents for conservative viewpoints? | |
| No one at the FBI has asked their viewpoints on politics. | ||
| Is the FBI still labeling the Betsy Ross flag, the flag of the American Revolution, a hate symbol? | ||
| No. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, maybe that's why you've been able to, what was the number? | |
| 23,000 bad guys you've arrested, a huge increase from the same time period in the previous administration. | ||
| I think you said 1,400 predators, 4,000 children rescued. | ||
| Were those effects? | ||
| 4,700, 35% increase on children rescued. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah. | |
| And you got the guy to Abby Gate? | ||
| We got the Abby Gate guy. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The guy from the 4th District of Ohio lost his life there serving our country. | |
| We appreciate that. | ||
| Maybe when you're not focused on politics, you can actually do what the FBI is supposed to do. | ||
| Go get the bad guys, right? | ||
| That's what the men and women of the FBI do. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Director, did John Brennan lie to Congress? | |
| Let me just read a couple things actually before you answer that. | ||
| Two years ago, we had Mr. Brennan in for an interview, and I asked him, How did you learn about the dossier in December of 2016? | ||
| Mr. Brennan replied, I received a copy of it from the FBI, and the CIA was very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the steel dossier in the intelligence community assessment. | ||
| That's what John Brennan told the United States Congress. | ||
| Seven weeks ago, the Director of National Intelligence told us this. | ||
| John Brennan lied and denied using the dossier in the intelligence community assessment because he knew it was discredited. | ||
| CIA officer told the House Intelligence Committee, Brennan refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier's main flaws, he responded, yes, but doesn't it ring true? | ||
| John Brennan lied to us, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| I won't stylize the evidence. | ||
| What I will say is that the intelligence community assessment, those that created it, and any individual involved with it, is an ongoing investigation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There's an investigation into what took place in December and January of December 2016, January 2017, when this whole thing started, this grand conspiracy. | |
| That is being investigated. | ||
| Is that right? | ||
| That has been publicly announced by the department. | ||
|
unidentified
|
That's been announced by the department. | |
| Did Chris Ray hide documents from this committee? | ||
| You would know better than me, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I think you told us like 700 pieces of information you've given this committee since you've been the director relative to just one incident, the Catholic memorandum from the Richmond Field Office. | |
| I can give you the comparison, sir. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| The Catholic memo, I believe we turned over 750 documents in Mr. Ray's tenure. | ||
| I believe they turned over 19 pages. | ||
|
unidentified
|
19 pages. | |
| Do you give it a 700? | ||
| Why would Chris Ray hide information from this committee? | ||
| You want to hazard a guess? | ||
| I'm sorry. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hazard a guess why he would do that? | |
| I don't know, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Speak, maybe it was because they were FBI was spying on a priest, trying to get him to break the priest-penitent confidence that exists. | |
| I think maybe that was the reason. | ||
| You'd have to ask him, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, we'd love to do that. | |
| I want to read a few names here. | ||
| R.D. Kay's, Tropic Vortex, Riding Hood, Foggy Falls, Echoes Fade, Sirens, Lord, Janet, Christmas. | ||
| What are these code names about, Director? | ||
| You know? | ||
| Not off the top. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, R.D. Kay's Tropic Vortex. | |
| Mine are saying these are code names for leak investigations of classified information from the year 2017. | ||
| Does that ring a bell? | ||
| In terms of leak investigations, many of those are classified and many of those are ongoing, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| But we are working with you to produce documents as we close those investigations or as we declassify them. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Let me ask you this question, because this is something I've wondered about the way the FBI used to work. | |
| Wade, this whole thing kind of, so many of these things unfolded. | ||
| Seems to me you had all these people in government leaking information that then gets reported in the press. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There's a story written about it. | |
| And then that article is then used to further the investigation and move forward with what they want to do. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Did that take place back in 16 and 17? | |
| That's the exact scenario that took place in the FISA application for Carter Page and the rest of the Trump campaign. | ||
| And that is frightening, because that's what the CIA is supposed to do in foreign countries. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's not supposed to happen to Americans, but it did, didn't it, Director? | |
| Yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And not just any Americans, it happened with the President of the United States. | |
| Is that accurate? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, and you were the key guy in helping expose that. | |
| And I think our country will be forever grateful for what you did to let the country know that was going on involving Americans, which is not supposed to happen, and not just, again, any American, but the President of the United States. | ||
| Chair now recognizes the gentlelady from California. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| I'm concerned by reports that FBI agents have been diverted from their important work on crime and anti-terrorism to work on matters that are not critical to our safety. | ||
| I'd like to play the video, the whole video. | ||
| Jeffrey Epstein's black book. | ||
| FBI. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But who? | |
| That is. | ||
| I mean, that's under direct control of the director of the FBI. | ||
| But the black book, it's not just sitting. | ||
| I mean, that's Hoover power times 10. | ||
| And to me, that's a thing I think President Trump should run on. | ||
|
unidentified
|
On day one, roll out the black book. | |
| In contrast to that attitude of let it all out, we're getting reports of actions that run contrary to getting everything out and that also involve diversions of FBI resources. | ||
| For example, an FBI whistleblower reported that you were pressured by the Attorney General to place 1,000 personnel on 24-hour shifts to mine roughly 100,000 Epstein-related records to redact President Trump's name from the files. | ||
|
Trump's Name Appeared Many Times
00:03:46
|
||
| Bloomberg reported this, that you directed FBI special agents from the New York and Washington field offices to join the Bureau's FOIA employees in Winchester and another building a few miles away, | ||
| and that while reviewing the Epstein files, FBI personnel identified numerous references to Trump in the documents, and people familiar with the matter said that Trump's name, along with other high-profile individuals, was blacked out. | ||
| Now, the New York Times reports, and this is a quote: Justice Department officials diverted hundreds of FBI employees and federal prosecutors from their regular duties to go through the documents at least four times, including once to flag any references to Mr. Trump and other prominent figures. | ||
| Details of the review were based on accounts by three former FBI and Justice Department officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears of retaliation. | ||
| And further, that the FBI finished after they finished its review of the files and materials was sent to a team of Justice Department lawyers who double-checked the FBI's redactions and, quote, were instructed to flag any mentions of Mr. Trump and other celebrities. | ||
| Now, I have three questions for you, Mr. Patel, about this. | ||
| First, how many times did President Trump's name appear in the Epstein files? | ||
| Was it more than 100, more than 1,000? | ||
| Were the agents who were pulled from their duties to redact the President's name from the Epstein files working on criminal cases or national security cases or child sex trafficking cases? | ||
| And are the number of agents that have been reported diverted for these purposes is that accurate? | ||
| No. | ||
| No, what? | ||
| You asked if it was accurate. | ||
| I said it wasn't. | ||
| So you're saying that none of this happened? | ||
| No, I'm saying it was inaccurate. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| How many times did President Numps appear in the Epstein files? | ||
| More than 100, more than 1,000? | ||
| No. | ||
| And what we've been able to release is what we've been legally able to release. | ||
| No, that's not the question. | ||
| I asked you, how many times did the President's name appear? | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| It's your testimony you do not know that answer. | ||
| A number of times? | ||
| No. | ||
| Could you tell us how many agents were diverted for this task and what they were working on? | ||
| When you say diverted, you make it seem as if agents were pulled off what they do all the time. | ||
| Agents at the FBI masterfully do double duty and triple duty. | ||
| And because of the public's interest in this case, we flex resources to make sure that we could answer the public signal demand. | ||
| So do you want us to look through the material provided to you, or you do not want us to do that? | ||
| So it's your testimony that no one was diverted from a criminal matter, that this was a top priority to go through this material to look for Mr. Trump's name. | ||
| Is that your testimony that's the highest priority for the FBI? | ||
| What's one of the most impressive things about the FBI leadership and the careers that are in place is that they make the decisions on who to send where on priorities and make sure the mission needs are not hurt. | ||
| And that's what happened here. | ||
| It's shocking to me that the FBI would think that erasing Mr. Trump's name from the Epstein files is a high priority when we have crime, we have national security threats, we have terrorism threats, we have murders such as that that occurred, unfortunately, with Mr. Kirk. | ||
|
Chinese Influence and Police Interference
00:15:30
|
||
| It's shocking to hear that that's your highest priority. | ||
| And with that, Mr. Chairman, I yield. | ||
| That's literally not what I said. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Dilla yields back to Hilmer for Wisconsin's recognition. | |
| Director, is President Trump implicated in any wrongdoing related to Jeffrey Epstein? | ||
| Based on the entirety of the evidence that we have, absolutely not. | ||
| The President is not implicated. | ||
| Correct. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I want to talk a little bit about China's malign influence here in America. | ||
| And, you know, we've seen spy balloons traverse the United States. | ||
| We've seen police stations in communities around America. | ||
| And sitting in the chair you're in just two years ago, there was a sheriff from Cochise County, Arizona, Mark Daniels, that was here, who said that the exponential increase in the amount of fentanyl that is coming into America is directly related to the open borders policies of the previous administration. | ||
| Do you agree with Sheriff Danel's characterization? | ||
| In large part, yes. | ||
| So since you've been director, has there been a reduction with, I mean, we've talked about how the border is largely secure now, right? | ||
| The southern border, yes, sir. | ||
| The southern border is largely secure. | ||
| Has there been a concomitant reduction or a reduction in the amount of fentanyl that is coming into America? | ||
| There has been a massive reduction to the tune of, we have seized more than 25% year-to-date this year than the prior year, and that's enough fentanyl to kill 120 million Americans. | ||
| Does China play a role in this fentanyl that's coming to America? | ||
| As I stated in my opening, sir, what they do and the companies in China, mainland China do is produce the precursors and the cutting agents that they send ship overseas through various countries into the Mexican drug cartels who produce it. | ||
| So they basically are the cooks in terms of the ingredients. | ||
| Tell us, what is the FBI doing to stop China from delivering death to America? | ||
| So for the first time in a decade, I actually reached out to my counterpart at the Ministry of Public Security. | ||
| No one at the FBI had done so. | ||
| To engage. | ||
| Ministry of Security, where's that? | ||
| In mainland China. | ||
| In mainland China. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| To engage in a conversation to say, hey, can we have a certain number of these precursor chemicals listed in China so that they become illegal and illegal to trade? | ||
| We're also working with our counterparts in places like India and Guatemala because the transshipment routes of the precursors, the Mexican drug cartels, have gotten creative and instead of coming directly to America are going into these countries. | ||
| And we've had massive success in India and Guatemala and in those governments' great partnerships in shutting down the ability to ship the precursors into those countries which are ultimately destined to America. | ||
| So those people that are working with security agencies have been working with you, is that accurate? | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| So I want to turn to a couple cases that are at the University of Michigan where Chinese nationals on behalf of the Chinese government smuggled in illicit biological materials, stuff that can harm our agricultural industry. | ||
| What actions are you taking as we see repeated stories of Chinese nationals doing this in the United States? | ||
| So just that, sir. | ||
| In this calendar year alone, as I was mentioning, our counterintelligence operations and cases brought against the Chinese are up by, I think, something like 40%. | ||
| And specifically, the cases in Michigan show two threat streams, not just against our agricultural industry, which is a threat to national security, but they were also bringing in chemical agents and mushrooms, I'm not the exact expert, that would have ultimately hurt our population. | ||
| We arrested and charged all of those individuals, and we were aggressively going after them in every single state because they weren't doing it in Michigan alone. | ||
| Should research universities across the United States be doing a thorough job of vetting Chinese nationals that are coming to their universities? | ||
| They should. | ||
| Turning to spying in America, you know, we heard the stories about Diane Feinstein, Senator Dianne Feinstein's driver, who was a Chinese spy. | ||
| We're familiar with Linda Sun, who worked in Governor Hochul's office, Christine Fang in California. | ||
| Are you, what are you doing to find these people who are Chinese spies that are trying to burrow themselves into the politics of America? | ||
| Because we know it's happening, right? | ||
| Yes, it is. | ||
| And what our counterintelligence unit is doing is aggressively seeking the intelligence into where these individuals are working, then we are utilizing our operational authorities to go in and investigate them either through our human source networks and collecting information through lawful process online search warrants and data so that we can bring proper arrest charges and publicize to the world what they're doing here. | ||
| And just because we've caught a few doesn't mean we've caught everybody. | ||
| We've got a lot more to go. | ||
| I get one more quick question in. | ||
| The FBI arrested a judge in Wisconsin, Hannah Dugan, for interfering with a federal law enforcement operation. | ||
| Could you tell us a little bit about that? | ||
| And is a judge above the law here in the United States of America? | ||
| Well, no one is, and that case is ongoing. | ||
| But as you stated in these allegations, said there was an interference in a lawfully executed federal law enforcement priority that was interfered with. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Gentleman yields back. | |
| The gentleman from Tennessee is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chair. | ||
| Director Patel, I believe you had primary importance in starting Operation Viper in Memphis. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is that correct? | |
| Yes, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And Operation Viper brought in the FBI, the DEA, the ATF to help Memphis police in policing the city? | |
| That'll be phase two, sir. | ||
| Phase one was FBI and local law enforcement in Memphis for the last few months. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay. | |
| You did a good job, and the police director and the mayor have told me that that has been helpful. | ||
| The FBI working with the police. | ||
| And the FBI are trained in law enforcement. | ||
| They know Miranda rights. | ||
| They know how to do policing, and they do a good job working with the police. | ||
| Do you think that the National Guard is necessary to do the work that the FBI is doing now? | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I do think it's necessary to finish it. | ||
| What we've done is 500 arrests in Memphis and 110 federal indictments. | ||
| But what we need to do is we've only secured a piece of where the criminal conduct is incurring in Memphis, and we can't work inside perimeters that are not established and safe, and we don't have the manpower to give us the space to fully go into the areas where the criminal activity remains. | ||
| Well, are you suggesting that the National Guard is going to go into the more crime, heavily crime areas? | ||
| They're going to establish, like they did in Washington, D.C., perimeters where local law enforcement and the FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals can go into. | ||
| We can't be going into all these areas knowing that they're extremely volatile and jeopardizing the safety of our agents. | ||
| Did the National Guard do anything in Washington to help the FBI stay safe from these dangerous elements? | ||
| They established perimeters. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Established. | |
| And the criminals knew about it. | ||
| So they it was a visible force, sir. | ||
| So they kind of saw it. | ||
| Well, what you did, I commend you for what you did, and I think the FBI coming in, we have a crime problem in Memphis. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The FBI has helped. | |
| DEA will help, and the ATF will help. | ||
| I don't think the National Guard is going to help. | ||
| And what I've seen, they're not trained in law enforcement, are they? | ||
| No, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And so that could be a problem. | |
| Who will direct the National Guard in Memphis? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Will it be, will they have control over your agents? | |
| No, sir, they won't. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Who will have control over your agents? | |
| You? | ||
| Well, the SAC and then ultimately the chain of command up to Washington, D.C. will control the FBI, but there's a task force that was put together that is going to be led by an interagency. | ||
| The heads of U.S. Marshals, DEA, and FBI will be working together with DHS collectively on this. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Have you visited Memphis before? | |
| Yes, sir, I have. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So you know how good a city it is. | |
| I love Memphis. | ||
|
unidentified
|
A lot of us do. | |
| And Memphis is a great city, great history. | ||
| Civil Rights Museum might say something about slavery, but that was the history. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It needs to be taught. | |
| Blues, Elvis. | ||
| Bill Street. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Beale Street, right, barbecue. | |
| And people should come. | ||
| It's not a troubled city. | ||
| We've got some crime, but it's not a troubled city. | ||
| We're not troubled, and we love our city. | ||
| We hope that the National Guard doesn't come in and cause people to have questions about Memphis because it's a city they should visit. | ||
| Let me ask you this about you said that the homicide rates are coming down to an all-time low. | ||
| In modern recorded U.S. history, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
When does modern recorded history start? | |
| I think the FBI, and I'll get back to you on this, has stats on that going back about 30 years, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, I was thinking back to Ozzie and Harriet, and I didn't think you could beat Ozzie and Harriet's time. | |
| Secondly, you mentioned the Epstein case. | ||
| Did any of the women that were victims, and they came up here and had a press conference and all, did any of them contact your office and ask to give information? | ||
| To my knowledge, no, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
If they did, let me ask you first. | |
| Is there a statute of limitations on sex crimes like that, sex with a mind or rape? | ||
| The DOJ is the expert, but I do not believe there's a statute on that, limitations on that. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So there's not a statute of limitations. | |
| Should you not be interviewing those people who know who raped them and the names and the places and give you that information? | ||
| That seems like that's a treasure trope of information, and it's a serious, serious, serious number of crimes. | ||
| Sir, I couldn't agree with you more. | ||
| We've been very public about asking individuals to come forward with new information, and we would run out every single lead on that. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, I'm sure the women will come forward, especially today, to assure that they will get an opportunity, because that seems like something we ought to do. | |
| Mr. Driscoll, what was his reputation? | ||
| I can't comment on Mr. Driscoll's matter. | ||
| It's an ongoing litigation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yeah, but his reputation you could tell us about. | |
| I can tell you, I can't tell you about his reputation. | ||
| His work has been laid out in that lawsuit. | ||
|
unidentified
|
How many of the FBI agents who worked on the 9 January 6th case have been fired? | |
| I don't have that number, sir. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You have a ballpark figure? | |
| No, but I can tell you that individuals based on case assignments in the FBI that I have led have not been terminated for case assignments. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, sir. | |
| And come back to Memphis and you work with Kevin Kaine and our tourism bureau. | ||
| He's great. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And thank you for your work in Memphis. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, I have a unanimous consent request. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gentleman's recognized. | |
| So I've got four documents I'd like to introduce into the record. | ||
| The first one is Jeffrey Epstein's sixth story played out for years in plain sight. | ||
| And Acosta is quoted in here saying, I was told Epstein belonged to intelligence and to leave it alone. | ||
| The second document is entitled, What Epstein's Bodyguard Warned About His CIA Connections. | ||
| The third document is from Fox Digital. | ||
| It's titled Epstein's Private Calendar Reveals Planned Meetings with Obama, Admin Official, CIA Chief. | ||
| And the last document is Wall Street Journal article that highlights Ehud Barak's 36 meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| He was the former Prime Minister of Israel and head of military intelligence for Israel. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection. | |
| He may have held that title when he met Epstein. | ||
| And then, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman will hold for a second. | |
| The gentleman from Maryland is recognized. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| Just one UC request. | ||
| This is Judge Engelmeyer's decision from August in U.S. versus Epstein stating the government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files dwarfs the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman from Kentucky is recognized for five minutes. | |
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| Director Patel, I watched some of your Senate hearing yesterday when Senator Kennedy asked you, you've seen most of the files, who, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these women to besides himself? | ||
| You replied, according to the transcript, there is no credible information that he trafficked them to anyone else. | ||
| You also said somewhere in the hearing and here today that the problem is that the case files are constrained by limited search warrants from 2006 to 2007 and that the non-prosecution agreement hamstrung future investigations. | ||
| Those constraints only apply to the Southern District of Florida. | ||
| They do not apply to the Southern District of New York, the location of the 2019 sex trafficking indictment, which produced many things, including a series of FD 302 documents. | ||
| According to victims, who cooperated with the FBI in that investigation, these documents in FBI possession, your possession, detail at least 20 men, including Mr. Jess Staley, CEO of Barclays Bank, who Jeffrey Epstein trafficked victims to, victims including minors such as Virginia Roberts Eufree. | ||
| May she rest in peace? | ||
| That list also includes at least 19 other individuals, one Hollywood producer worth a few hundred million dollars, one royal prince, one high-profile individual in the music industry, one very prominent banker, one high-profile government official, one high-profile former politician, one owner of a car company in Italy, one rock star, one magician, at least six billionaires, including a billionaire from Canada. | ||
| We know these people exist in the FBI files, the files that you control. | ||
| I don't know exactly who they are, but the FBI does. | ||
| Have you launched any investigations into any of these people, and have you seen these 302 documents? | ||
| Sir, I have asked my FBI agents to review the entirety of the Epstein files and bring forth any credible information. | ||
| And we're working with Congress not only to divulge that information and produce it to you, but any investigations that arise from any credible investigation will be brought. | ||
| There have been no new materials brought to me launching a new indictment. | ||
| So is the loophole here, or is it your assertion that these victims aren't credible, that the 302s maybe didn't produce credible statements that rise to a probable cause? | ||
| It's not my assertion, sir. | ||
| It's the assertion of two different United States attorney's offices from three separate administrations who investigated those same materials in a lifetime. | ||
| Were the 302 documents in the FBI's possession? | ||
| They reviewed all that, yes, sir. | ||
| And so have you reviewed those 302 documents where the victims name the people who victimized them? | ||
| If I personally know, but the FBI has. | ||
| So how can you sit here in front of the Senate and say there are no names? | ||
|
CIA File Controversy
00:02:48
|
||
| I said, I named one today. | ||
| I said, we are not in the practice at the Department of Justice FBI of releasing victims' names. | ||
| That is not what we do. | ||
| We are also not in the habit of releasing incredible information. | ||
| That's not what we do. | ||
| But multiple authorities have looked at the entirety of what we have done. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| I've got to move on here. | ||
| Were you present when the AG had the White House event when she released the binders to the social media influencers? | ||
| I was, yes. | ||
| So if you're willing to meet with social media influencers who stood to benefit from the sensational and sad stories of these victims, will you meet with the victims as well? | ||
| The FBI will meet with anyone who has new information. | ||
| Will you personally meet with them? | ||
| The FBI and the professionals who are handling the cases will. | ||
| Were you instructed that it was important to release the documents to the Oversight Committee on the day of my introduction of the discharge petition to release these files? | ||
| I don't know what day that was, so no. | ||
| Well, they were released that day, and there were victims' names who weren't redacted because they were in such a rush, and the victims are not happy about that. | ||
| Have you investigated any of the CIA connections? | ||
| Have you seen the CIA file on Jeffrey Epstein? | ||
| And if you wanted to see it, would they show it to you? | ||
| Well, I can speak for the FBI, and that's presuming there's a CIA case file, and I've reviewed everything that the interagency, not I, the FBI, that was provided to us. | ||
| Would you be willing to look at the CIA file on Jeffrey Epstein? | ||
| If there is such a file, and if it has not already been turned over to the FBI, the FBI will look at any new investigative leads. | ||
| Have you made any progress on the pipe bomb investigation January 6th? | ||
| And have you made any progress on the motive of the Las Vegas shooter? | ||
| As to the first, it's an ongoing investigation, and we have made progress. | ||
| As to the second, sir, I'll have to get back to you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
All right. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| I yield back. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, I have a unanimous consent. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm going to yield back. | |
| Unanimous consent request from the gentleman from New York. | ||
| I asked unanimous consent to introduce an unsigned memorandum from July 7th, 2025, that says we did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties with the insignia of the Department of Justice and the FBI. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I have a unanimous consent request. | ||
| It's an article entitled DOJ Delete's study showing domestic terrorists are most often right-wing. | ||
|
Disagreeing On Chinese Stocks
00:05:05
|
||
|
unidentified
|
Objection. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Gentleman from Georgia is recognized for five minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chairman. | ||
| Director Patel, thank you for being here today. | ||
| I want to first talk about the significant role that the FBI plays in combating the national security threats posed by our nation's greatest threat, our nation's greatest security threat, China and the Chinese Communist Party. | ||
| It's a fact that China is America's most significant national security threat, isn't that correct? | ||
| I would say so, sir. | ||
| And you would agree with me that China wants to dominate the United States of America? | ||
| I think that's largely their plan. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And they want to dominate the world both militarily and economically, isn't that correct? | |
| I think so. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And, sir, you've been FBI director for the last, what, eight months? | |
| Seven months, yes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Seven months, and during that time, have you held any stock in any companies founded in China? | |
| I don't believe so. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, you do own stock in a company known as Elite Depot, don't you? | |
| Which one, sorry? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Elite Depot. | |
| You own stock. | ||
| I think that's, I'll have to get back to you. | ||
| I think it's a law firm and it's a company out of Singapore. | ||
| Okay, well, no, the company out of Singapore, which is owned by Elite Depot, is the Cheyenne Company, which was founded in China. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Correct? | |
| That company operates out of Taiwan. | ||
| They changed their headquarters from China back in 2022 to Singapore for tax purposes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
But it's owned by a Chinese billionaire. | |
| I think his name is Charlie Zoo. | ||
| And you own stock in the company that owns Xi'an. | ||
| Which I disclosed during my confirmation process. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You certainly did. | |
| And now, do you still hold that stock in that Chinese company? | ||
| Pursuant to the Department of Justice, who reviewed my material that was submitted during my confirmation process, I was able to hold certain stocks and they made it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Do you still hold the stocks that you have? | |
| Still hold on to these Chinese stocks, these stocks in this Chinese company? | ||
| I disagree that it's a Chinese company, but I was in the DOJ, when you're appointed, makes a call on what you can and can't. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, now, let me ask you this. | |
| Chinese companies steal trademarks. | ||
| They produce counterfeit products and sell them over the internet on platforms such as Xi'an. | ||
| They steal intellectual property. | ||
| They steal data from American companies. | ||
| And to me, it seems inconsistent with your role as FBI director that you would own stock in a company that is based in a country that is the nation's premier national security threat. | ||
|
unidentified
|
It's like you are putting your own financial security over the security of the nation. | |
| I disagree with that characterization. | ||
| Well, I think the American people look at it like it's a classic situation of the fox guarding the hen house. | ||
| If the FBI is charged with investigating espionage, economic espionage, by companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, and you are the director of the FBI, you've got a conflict of interest. | ||
| Sir, I would just show if there's any intimation that I'm holding on to this stock. | ||
| It wasn't a decision. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And it's valued at up to $5 million as of when you last reported, correct? | |
| $5 million in stock? | ||
| I don't follow it. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You don't follow it, but you're still making money off of it. | |
| I don't have any money off of anything. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What I have done, Trump's trade policies directly impact the value of that Chinese stock. | |
| Won't you agree with that? | ||
| Which trade policy? | ||
| I'm not a trade expert. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay, all right. | |
| But I want to tell you this. | ||
|
unidentified
|
You're not getting crazy on me today. | |
| Let me ask you this question. | ||
| Why are you hiding pedophiles? | ||
|
Organized Effort on the Left
00:06:56
|
||
|
unidentified
|
Why are you shielding pedophiles? | |
| Why are you protecting pedophiles? | ||
| That is maybe the most offensive thing you could say to me, given the numbers. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Well, you have not released the pedophiles of pedophiles. | |
| You are aware of the F-State client list that was published in the 18,000. | ||
| Time the gentleman has expired. | ||
| The gentleman, you'll answer the question. | ||
| Of course, the gentleman can answer the question. | ||
| Since I took over the FBI, there has been a 33% increase under Christopher Robert. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Your time is done. | |
| Oh, it didn't. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The witness gets to answer the question, and then we'll go to our next. | |
| FBI director, sir, and you're coming in here trying to take credit for something that a previous director instituted and largely brought to conclusion. | ||
| I take no credit that the director has been so much better than the previous director. | ||
| It's disconnected. | ||
| I take no credit. | ||
| The men and women of the FBI have seen a 33 percent increase in the number of counterintelligence arrests out of the PR. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So all of a sudden, when you coming in seven months ago, gentlemen's time expired and on the pedophile accusations. | |
| We have arrested 1,500 child predators in the last seven months. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Under investigations initiated by the prior director. | |
| I'm going to thank the director's good work, and we really appreciate that the time of the gentleman has expired. | ||
| We now go to the gentleman from Texas. | ||
| I thank the chairman. | ||
| I thank the FBI director for coming before the committee. | ||
| I assume the FBI director, Mr. Patel, I believe you probably agree with me that there is a significant organized effort on the left side of the political spectrum to advance criminal organizations being able to put more criminals out on the streets. | ||
| That what we've seen, we've seen this in daily action. | ||
| Are you familiar with the report that came out this last Monday from the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund? | ||
| I'm not familiar with that, sorry. | ||
| So this report came out this past Monday, and it said that a significant amount of the money flowing out of George Soros and other leftist organizations and funders has been funding DAs and prosecutors. | ||
| And quote, many of these DAs that never managed an office, prosecuted a criminal case, developed organizational policies. | ||
| In dozens of America's largest cities and counties, this report finds these progressive district attorneys have outsourced core parts of the American criminal justice system to activists and political donors, taking direction and advice on everything from staffing decisions and communications strategy. | ||
| Organizations, a complex web of donors going in through these organizations to radical, put radical DAs and prosecutors out there, putting criminals on the streets. | ||
| Does the FBI director agree that this exists and is a problem? | ||
| I will accept the factual representation, and if that exists, it is a problem. | ||
| The organizations such as TIDES, the Fair and Just Prosecution, Brenner Center for Justice, Partnership for Safety and Justice, the Vera Institute of Justice, the amount of dollars flowing from George Soros through and to these organizations and to the various prosecutors that have resulted in increased crime on our streets, including the brutal murder of the Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte. | ||
| I bring that up because that is one component of the problem. | ||
| In addition, we have an organized effort targeting our border, the NGOs, the nonprofits in the deep pockets, the United Nations, charitable organizations, and a long list of over 250 organizations that the Center for Immigration Studies put out that lays out a complex web of organizations that were moving people into our country, | ||
| knowing that they're dangerous, knowing that they're criminal, associated with taxpayer dollars flowing through the United Nations and donor dollars flowing through organizations, including ostensibly religious ones, putting these dangerous individuals on the street that resulted in fental in our communities, that resulted in the death of Jocelyn Nungre of hundreds, thousands even, as the director testified, 100,000 people dying from these narcotics every year. | ||
| All of this in an organized effort, a complete effort by the radical left to use taxpayer dollars in these dollars to put people on our streets. | ||
| In addition, the extent to which we've seen now with the Southern Poverty Law Center and their hate map targeting, for example, the Family Research Council, where we had a shooting right here in D.C. over a decade ago, putting Charlie Kirk, putting a target on TPUSA, Antifa, other radical organizations that are very specifically organized and targeting conservatives and ordinary Americans. | ||
| Well, how about the organized effort to infiltrate our schools and advance transgender agenda and advance a radical agenda, perhaps one that we will see exposed further in the individual that actually shot Charlie Kirk? | ||
| So here's my question. | ||
| Will you as the director, and are you as the director, pursuing all legal channels to follow the truth wherever it may lead on this organized effort, one, and two, do you agree that Congress should take all action necessary to expose this web of dollars that are flowing to undermine our way of life? | ||
| We've got another minute in my time, then I'd like to hear from you on this topic broadly. | ||
| I'll keep it short. | ||
| Investigatively speaking, we are doing the following. | ||
| We are following the money. | ||
| We are following the money in every organization and every person that is violating the federal code. | ||
| And it doesn't matter what your background or ideology is, we are following the money. | ||
| We are using legal process to follow that money, issuing subpoenas to follow that money, using grand juries to follow that money. | ||
| And when we have results to recommend for prosecution to the Department of Justice, we will do that. | ||
| And we will continue to publicize documents through Congress, yes, when we make these findings. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, I'd like unanimous consent to insert the record outsourcing justice by the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund that I alluded to before. | ||
| I would ask unanimous consent to add a 2024 list provided by the Center for Immigration Studies on these United Nations and other affiliated groups that are responsible, over 250 of them, for moving individuals into our country in a coordinated effort. | ||
| I would like unanimous consent to insert a letter that I sent that currently 33 members of the United States House of Representatives have signed on it, calling for a special select committee to pursue the organized effort from the radical left to target our way of life and undermine our security by putting criminals on the street and having our borders being wide open and putting us in danger. | ||
|
FBI Director's Ongoing Investigation
00:13:35
|
||
| And with that, I would yield back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection, the gentleman yields back. | |
| Mr. Chairman, I have a couple of unanimous requests. | ||
| Gentlemen's request. | ||
| One is a letter from Senator Tom Cotton dated last year, urging the U.S. to, quote, ensure that data from U.S. companies is not harvested by the Chinese Communist Party through the purchase of Xi'an software and technology. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| And also, a statement by Marco Rubio, then Senator Marco Rubio, which warned our U.K. allies about, quote, Xi'an's deep ties to the People's Republic of China. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Also, a crime is a record crime is down in 2025. | ||
| Trump doesn't deserve credit, which demonstrates that the crime rates have been decreasing since 2023, which was published by the Vera Institute. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Also, a unanimous consent request to enter into the record an NPR report from July of 2024. | |
| GOP vows to make America safe again. | ||
| Statistics contradict their growing crime claim. | ||
| Without objection. | ||
| Also, a report out of the American Presidency Project dated January 17, 2025. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Record low crime during the Biden-Harris administration. | |
| Without objection. | ||
| Also, Joe Biden is correct that violent crime is near a 50-year low, which was a PolitiFact publication of May 2024. | ||
| And last but not least, a FBI releases 2024 reported crimes in the nation statistics. | ||
| These are FBI statistics published on August 5th, 2025, which decays decreases in murder, rape, aggregated assault, and robbery in 2024. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Without objection. | |
| Gentlemen from Kentucky is recognized for unanimous consent. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to submit two sets of documents. | ||
| The first is a series of emails from the victims of Jeffrey Epstein. | ||
| They are making FOIA requests to get their own FBI files and not having any success. | ||
| So I want to bring attention to that by submitting that to the record. | ||
| The second document that I want to submit to the record for the record, I know we don't usually read these. | ||
| This one's not readable. | ||
| It's completely redacted for the most part, the first 50 pages. | ||
| This is actually the search warrant that was served on James O'Keefe for a diary that he had already given to the government two months before. | ||
| And as it turns out, there were no indictments here, yet he still doesn't know why he was raided. | ||
| And I think he deserves to know. | ||
|
unidentified
|
No objection. | |
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The chair now recognizes the gentleman from California. | |
| Director, the first time you saw Donald Trump's name was in the Epstein files, did you close the files or keep reading? | ||
| I have reviewed not the entirety of the files. | ||
| So you haven't reviewed all of the Epstein files? | ||
| Personally, no. | ||
| You're the director of the FBI. | ||
| This is the largest sex trafficking case the FBI has ever been a part of. | ||
| Buck stops at the top, and your testimony today is you have not reviewed all the files. | ||
| What I've been doing is busy providing the safest country this country has seen in modern U.S. history in historic speed because the men and women of the FBI are given the resources to reduce the homicide rates, to reduce the drug trafficking rate, to reduce the amount of children that are being trafficked and the number of people. | ||
| It sounds like those children being trafficked would appreciate the director reviewing the files. | ||
| You said you don't know the number of times Trump's name appears in the files, so it could at least be a thousand times. | ||
| Is that right? | ||
| The number is a total misleading factor. | ||
| We have not released anyone's name. | ||
| We have not released anyone's name in the Epstein files that has not been credible. | ||
| Director, could it be a pleasure? | ||
| We have released every piece of legally permissible information. | ||
| You can characterize the numbers however you want it. | ||
| I'm reclaiming my time, Director. | ||
| It sounds like if you don't know the number, it could at least be 1,000 times, which is not. | ||
| It's not. | ||
| Is it at least 500 times? | ||
| No. | ||
| Is it at least 100 times? | ||
| No. | ||
| Then what's the number? | ||
| I don't know the number, but it's not that. | ||
| Do you think it might be your job to know the number? | ||
| My job is to provide for the safety and security of this country. | ||
| My job is not to engage in political innuendo so you can go out to the sticks and get your 20-second hit and your fundraising. | ||
| Keep going, reclaiming your time, because the people of California are being underserved by your representation. | ||
| We have released everything, the president and anyone else's side, that is credible and lawfully be able to be released. | ||
| Your fixation on this matter and baseless accusations that I'm hiding is disgusting. | ||
| Anyone that says that needs to look at the stats alone and go back to the state of California, who's receiving the biggest surge in FBI resources through my redeployment, because the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. | ||
| Remembering your oath to tell the truth, did you ever tell Donald Trump his name is in the files? | ||
| I have never spoken to President Trump about the Epstein files. | ||
| Did you ever tell the Attorney General that Donald Trump's name is in the Epstein files? | ||
| The Attorney General and I have had numerous discussions about the entirety of the Epstein files and the reviews conducted by our country. | ||
| Did you tell the Attorney General that Donald Trump's name is in the Epstein files? | ||
| And we have released where President Trump's name is in the Estee. | ||
| Simple question. | ||
| Did you tell the Attorney General that the President's name is in the Epstein files? | ||
| During many conversations that the Attorney General and I have had on the matter of Epstein, we have reviewed. | ||
| Did you tell the Attorney General that Donald Trump's name is in the Epstein files? | ||
| Yes or no? | ||
| Why don't you try spelling it out? | ||
| No, use the alphabet. | ||
| Yes or no? | ||
|
unidentified
|
No? | |
| ABC? | ||
| Director, did you sound like you don't want to tell us? | ||
| Did you tell the Attorney General that Donald Trump's name was in the Epstein files? | ||
| Why don't you try serving your constituency by focusing on reducing violent crime in this country and the number of pedophiles that are illegally carbon sanctuary cities in California? | ||
| I'll work with you on that. | ||
| Regular order, Director Republican. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I belong to the gentleman from California. | |
| Did you tell the Attorney General that Donald Trump's name is in the FCC files today? | ||
| The question has been asked and answered. | ||
| You have not answered it, and we will take your evasiveness as a consciousness of guilt. | ||
| Director, did Donald Trump ever say to you, just find and release the entire truth? | ||
| Don't worry if I'm in it. | ||
| The instructions from the administration were to release all credible information, and we have done that. | ||
| Did Donald Trump ever provide information about Jeffrey Epstein as an informant? | ||
| Donald Trump has not been, and I can only speak for the FBI, an informant of the FBI. | ||
| So, Director, you've played this cute shell game where you say you can't release everything because the court has said that it legally is not allowed to be released. | ||
| But the court calls bullshit. | ||
| Judge Richard Berman said that when you went to the court, quote, information contained in the Epstein grand jury transcripts pales, pales in comparison to Epstein investigation information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice. | ||
| So let's move on, Director. | ||
| You wrote a book called Government Gangsters. | ||
| You identified 20 individuals in that book. | ||
| You put me on that list at the top of the list. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| My children find it flattering. | ||
| 20 of those individuals have been investigated or have had adverse actions. | ||
| Director, considering that you have identified these people as, quote, government gangsters, will you recuse yourself from making any investigation decisions about these individuals? | ||
| Anyone that has been terminated at the FBI has been done so that you can fail to meet the mustard constitutional work on the audiovisual capabilities. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I'm going to borrow your terminology and call bullshit on your entire career in Congress. | |
| It's been a disgrace to the American people. | ||
| You can reclaim your time all you want. | ||
| Chairman, you're going to allow a witness to speak this way. | ||
| Mr. Chairman, would you recuse yourself? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman has no time. | |
| Mr. Chairman, would you admonish the witness not to insult members? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The gentleman has no time. | |
| Mr. Chairman, just the committee will remember. | ||
| Quick point of order. | ||
| Could the gentleman be extended an additional 20 seconds to complete his thoughts since the witness decided to interrupt him? | ||
|
unidentified
|
And the witness will be able to respond if he wants. | |
| We'll make sure it's time to do that. | ||
| My question is. | ||
| Will you, Director, recuse yourself, yes or no, from investigating or making decisions about the 60 individuals, including myself, that you identified as government gangsters? | ||
| Yes or no? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Time of the gentleman has expired. | |
| The witness may respond if he would like. | ||
| And the answer was no, as I heard. | ||
| Correct. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Okay. | |
| The gentleman from Wisconsin. | ||
| The gentleman yields back. | ||
| The gentleman from Wisconsin is recognized for five minutes. | ||
| Thank you, Chairman. | ||
| Thank you, Director Patel, for being here today. | ||
| I wanted to talk a little bit about the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the FBI's subsequent investigation. | ||
| I know it's really sensitive, and you can make the call as to whether or not, obviously, it's something that you can respond to, but I think it's still fresh on many people's minds. | ||
| I want to congratulate you and Utah law enforcement for the work you did in identifying the suspect and apprehending him. | ||
| According to public reports, and I think this is what maybe it's I still have questions about, and maybe the public does. | ||
| According to public reports, the alleged shooter arrives on the Utah Valley University campus nearly four hours before the shooting. | ||
| Was that your understanding? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Is that kind of I'll let the public reports reflect themselves. | |
| I don't have the exact timeline. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| So we don't have any idea kind of his prep or how he set up or how he utilized that time when he first showed up on campus. | ||
| All of those are being currently investigated through our cell phone analysis and through our witness interviews. | ||
| And the state of Utah has now announced charges seeking the death penalty against this suspect, so we're a little limited in what we can continue to say. | ||
| Sure, I understand. | ||
| And the suspect, like you referred to, is then captured on security footage jumping off the roof of the alleged shooting location, the Losey Center. | ||
| Do we have any idea how the suspect got up on the roof in the first place? | ||
| I think for members of Congress, especially after Butler and Pennsylvania, it's just unimaginable that there could be some type of security breakdown prior to an event of that size where somebody could access a rooftop. | ||
| So, not commenting on the case, but having gone to the crime scene and walked the steps that we believe were taken, the roof was actually readily accessible through an exterior stairwell, so anyone could have gotten on it. | ||
| Okay, okay. | ||
| The suspect flees on foot to kind of this wooded area where he drops the rifle, wraps it in a towel, and then proceeds to his staged vehicle and basically drives home. | ||
| So, do we have any idea what the towel was about? | ||
| Was it used later to identify a place where the firearm was left? | ||
| Sorry, what we can tell you is the towel, there was a screwdriver found on the rooftop, which DNA was collected off of, and the towel was found wrapped around the firearm in question in a wooded area next to the campus. | ||
| All have been processed for DNA. | ||
| And then, according to the suspect's roommate, there were allegedly messages on instant messaging platforms, specifically Discord, suggesting the towel may have been used to identify that weapon's location. | ||
| So, the public reports have suggested that the shooter acted alone. | ||
| Do we still believe that that's true? | ||
| Do we have any idea as to whether or not those Discord messages led us to believe that the shooter may have had help in any way or assistance? | ||
| I can only speak to the FBI's investigation, and our investigation is ongoing. | ||
| We are interviewing any of those individuals involved in that chat and other individuals in the area. | ||
| Very good. | ||
| And if so, my suggestion: if there are accomplices, I'm sure this is something that the FBI is going to continue to investigate fully and thoroughly into the future. | ||
| Yes, sir. | ||
| The reason I ask that is because I don't know that that was necessarily the case with Butler, Pennsylvania. | ||
| So, thank you so much for your persistence kind of in this matter. | ||
| There's still a lot of public questions that need to be asked. | ||
|
Durham Annex Revealed
00:00:41
|
||
| Let me shift to another topic very quickly. | ||
| On July 31st, 2025, the DOJ and the CIA declassified the annex to Special Counsel John Durham's 2023 report on Operation Crossfire Hurricane. | ||
| The 29-page Durham annex contains previously classified information about, among other things, the investigative referral of the Clinton campaign plan. | ||
| Why would somebody place documents in a programme? | ||
|
unidentified
|
You can watch the rest of this on our free C-SPAN Now video app as we take you live to the U.S. Capitol as the House gabbles in. | |
| The House will be in order. | ||
| The prayer will be offered by Chaplain Kibben. | ||
Chapters
- 00:00:00 Sealed Court Orders and Protected Videos
- 00:15:02 Trump's Name Appeared Many Times
- 00:18:34 Chinese Influence and Police Interference
- 00:33:49 CIA File Controversy
- 00:36:23 Disagreeing On Chinese Stocks
- 00:41:14 Organized Effort on the Left
- 00:47:55 FBI Director's Ongoing Investigation
- 01:01:16 Durham Annex Revealed
Export Selection