Democrats say FBI director pressured and intimidated reporters, raising press concerns

Accusations that the FBI is being wielded as a weapon against the press erupted into open confrontation on Capitol Hill, as Senate Democrats challenged FBI Director Kash Patel over what they described as an intimidation campaign targeting journalists.

Patel forcefully denied the claims during a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, pushing back angrily while pointing to what he called the bureau’s achievements in cutting violent crime, disrupting drug trafficking and pursuing fraud cases.

The clash stretched across four and a half combative hours, with Patel and several Democratic senators exchanging sharply personal barbs in a session that repeatedly veered from policy into accusation.

“Like a thug, you’re using your agency 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.

Patel called the charge that he directed FBI resources toward journalists a “total lie.”

In April, Mr Patel filed a $250 million (€216m) lawsuit against The Atlantic magazine and the author of an article he described as a “defamatory hit piece.”

The Atlantic report alleged Mr Patel frequently drank to excess and suggested he was at risk of losing his position as FBI director.

MS Now, a cable news channel, reported that the FBI opened what it described as an “insider threat investigation” related to the Atlantic story.

Since assuming leadership of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr Patel has faced criticism that he initiated a purge aimed at agents viewed as insufficiently loyal to President Donald Trump.

Those dismissed, according to the accusations raised, include scores of agents involved in criminal cases brought against Mr Trump after he left the White House in 2021.

Pressed by senators about the departures, Mr Patel insisted “there was no purging” and said most of the agents who left did so by retiring voluntarily.

The hearing also took an unexpected turn as senators questioned the FBI’s move to loosen hiring restrictions for applicants who have engaged in prostitution or bestiality, prompting a string of unusual exchanges.

“The FBI has lowered its hiring standards by dropping automatic disqualification for applicants who have stolen from prior employers, paid for sex, or engaged in bestiality,” said Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois.

Mr Patel argued the policy change was intended to protect victims rather than excuse misconduct.

“Applicants who have engaged in bestiality means they were victims of bestiality because they were forced to do so,” he said. “We did not want to punish victims of bestiality, victims who were trafficked.”

Democrats also expressed alarm after Mr Patel declined to rule out deploying FBI agents to polling places during the November midterm elections.

“Election integrity is of paramount importance,” he said. “This FBI is not going to shy away from that effort.”