After facing intense criticism from Democrats during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, embattled FBI Director Kash Patel remained defiant, saying that he is "proud" to lead the nation's premier investigations agency.
Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Patel, who was confirmed to the role by the Senate in late February, touted its historic recruiting efforts, saying that the agency "has the most applicants to become FBI agents and intel analysts in the history of the FBI."
One of the major criticisms he received from Democratic senators during the hearing was for initially misstating on social media that conservative leader Charlie Kirk's alleged killer was in custody.
Patel has conceded that he could have worded his social media post better, but that he does not regret it because he issued it in the name of transparency.
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Speaking after the hearing, Patel added that "the American people are seeing and hearing what the FBI is doing on a daily basis, crushing violent crime and defending the homeland."
"So, I'm proud to be the director of the FBI that has seen the most significant, expansive application pool in history," he said.
In his opening statement to the committee, Patel listed a series of accomplishments the agency has achieved since President Donald Trump took office, including tens of thousands of arrests, a realignment of the agency and an emphasis on cracking down on illicit drugs.
Patel acknowledged the growing criticism over his direction of the FBI and challenged lawmakers on the panel to come after him, saying, "I'm not going anywhere" and "if you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on."
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Patel was also scrutinized over a wave of firings at the FBI, which some have alleged were politically motivated.
Ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., criticized Patel's deference to Trump, saying the director "installed MAGA loyalists" to key positions and initiated internal "loyalty tests," including polygraph tests. Durbin claimed that some FBI officials who failed those tests needed waivers to continue working at the bureau.
Durbin also noted that Patel has little experience working in law enforcement, calling his inexperience "staggering" and accusing him of fast-tracking similarly unqualified recruits to fill the FBI's open jobs.
Patel was also grilled by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, for requiring FBI field agents to perform push-ups as part of their physical fitness standards.
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Hirono expressed concerns that female agents may be negatively impacted by the push-up requirement, saying, "There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups is really required of FBI agents."
Patel responded, "If you want to chase down a bad guy, excuse me, and put him in handcuffs, you had better be able to do a pull-up."
In a particularly tense exchange, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., drilled into Patel, saying, "I think you're not going to be around long" and "I think this might be your last oversight hearing, because as much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald Trump and not the Constitution of the United States of America, Donald Trump has shown us in his first term, and in this term, he is not loyal to people like you."
Patel shot back that Booker's "rant of false information does not bring this country together," before adding, "It's my time, not yours."
