At today's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioned FBI Director Kash Patel about a range of topics including Jeffrey Epstein's death.
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00:00Mr. Director, worry not, we'll make sure your agency is adequately funded.
00:08This judge you arrested in Wisconsin, she was breaking federal law, wasn't she?
00:19Yes, that's why we arrested her.
00:21She was helping an illegal immigrant escape being taken into custody, is that right?
00:29Yes, and the field agents decided to open the case, work the case.
00:33And as Americans, do we get to pick and choose which laws we want to follow?
00:38We do not.
00:39If you're a state court judge, do you get to decide you don't want to follow federal law?
00:43No.
00:44And if you violate federal law, you get arrested, don't you?
00:51Yes, Senator.
00:52That's called equal treatment law, isn't it?
00:55Yes, Senator.
00:58You remember Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, don't you?
01:01Yes, Senator.
01:03Mr. Strzok worked for the FBI, Ms. Page, I'm sorry, Mr. Strzok worked for the FBI, I think Ms. Page worked for justice.
01:12The inspector general found in its investigation that they hated President Trump,
01:19and they really wanted Secretary Clinton to win.
01:23Is that true?
01:24That's correct, sir.
01:26And this would be the same Ms. Page who sent an email to Mr. Strzok, with whom she was having an affair.
01:38Trump's not ever going to become president, right, right?
01:42And Mr. Strzok, with the FBI, senior official with the FBI replied, quote, no, no, he won't.
01:50We'll stop it.
01:51Did I read that correctly?
01:53You did, Senator.
01:54Okay, now, Ms. Page got quit before she could get fired.
02:01Mr. Strzok was fired.
02:04And predictably, they filed a lawsuit.
02:08Because in Washington, it's easier to divorce your spouse than it is to fire a federal employee.
02:15Why did the FBI give Mr. Strzok $1.2 million and Ms. Page $800,000 to settle a lawsuit?
02:31Senator, I do not know that settlement was reached in the prior administration.
02:34Who made the decision?
02:35The prior Department of Justice.
02:38Who in the prior Department of Justice?
02:40The settlement for that kind of case can only come from the Attorney General, which would be Attorney General Merrick Garland.
02:45So the Attorney General decided to give Mr. Strzok $1.2 million and Ms. Page $800,000
02:53after they were fired after actively interfering in the 2016 election. Is that right?
03:00My understanding is that was a settlement they agreed to.
03:02Pass me the sick bucket, please.
03:06The Hunter Biden laptop.
03:08In October of 2016, shortly before the election, the New York Post wrote a story that was widely covered,
03:20talking about Mr. Hunter Biden's influence peddling scheme based on his laptop.
03:27A couple of weeks later, Secretary of State, soon to be Secretary of State, Antony Blinken,
03:33organized a group of 51 so-called intelligence experts, had some real rock stars on the list.
03:45Jim Clapper, John Brennan, Michael Hayden, Leon Panetta.
03:51And they said, oh, no, no, no.
03:54The story in the New York Post is not true.
03:56It's based on Russian disinformation. Do you remember that?
04:01I do, Senator, as the lead investigator for Russiagate for the House Intel Committee.
04:05Yeah, yeah.
04:06The FBI had had the laptop for 10 months, hadn't they?
04:10They did, Senator.
04:11So the FBI knew right before the election that it wasn't Russian disinformation, didn't they?
04:19And that was confirmed by the inspector general's report.
04:23Yeah. Who would the FBI refuse to let the FBI tell the American people the truth?
04:30I don't have that name in front of me, sir.
04:32Well, would you look?
04:33I will, sir.
04:34I'd like to know. I'd like a name, not a division. I'd like the name.
04:39A person with a brain and a beating heart.
04:41Yes, sir.
04:42Did Jeffrey Epstein hang himself or did somebody kill him?
04:53Senator, I believe he hung himself in a cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center.
04:58Are you going to release all the information about that?
05:02Senator, we are working through that right now with the Department of Justice.
05:04When do you think you'll have it done, Cash?
05:08I think in the near future, sir.
05:10Like before I die?
05:13Senator, we've been working on that and we're doing it in a way that protects
05:24victims and also doesn't put out into the ether information that is
05:33irrelevant for production of the public, such as CSAM.
05:37Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:38Senator Reid.
05:41Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
05:42Thank you, Director.
05:44As you're well aware, DOGE...