WASHINGTON: Senate Democrats accused FBI Director Kash Patel at a fiery congressional hearing on Tuesday of abusing his position as head of the law enforcement agency to intimidate journalists.
Patel angrily rejected the allegations during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and lauded the FBPs record in reducing violent crime, fighting drug trafficking and prosecuting fraud.
Patel and several Democratic senators traded sharply personal attacks during the combative fourand-a-half-hour hearing.
‘Like a thug, you’re using youragency to go after reporters,’ said Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey. ‘Reporters wrote about the president and your bureau went to their homes and subpoenaed their mothers.
‘A reporter wrote about you and your bureau ran her name through records and began an investigation,’ Booker added.
The FBI director said it was a ‘total lie’ that he had used FBI resources to target reporters. Patel filed a $250 million suit in April against The Atlantic magazine and the author of an article he called a ‘defamatory hit piece.’-AFP