Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) stated on Sunday that Democrats, including California Sen. Adam Schiff, “fear” the possibility of Kash Patel leading the FBI because he is aware of their involvement in Russiagate.
“I think, too, they are very fearful of Kash Patel, because Kash Patel knows what Adam Schiff and some of the others did with Russia collusion, and they know that he knows — the dirt on them, if you will — and I think they’re fearful of what he’s going to do and what he’s going to reveal,” Blackburn told “Fox & Friends” on Sunday.
She also said that Democrats recognize that “Patel is very devoted to bringing transparency to what’s going on in Washington.”
Blackburn also addressed these alleged concerns during remarks to the Senate Judiciary Committee late last month after Patel’s confirmation hearings.
“As I’ve listened to my Democratic colleagues in their comments this morning, you can hear the anger and the displeasure with having Kash Patel before us. But I think it’s important to realize why Kash Patel is there and why President Trump chose to nominate Kash Patel,” she began.
“The American people are sick and tired of two tiers of access, two tiers of treatment, and two tiers of justice. And during the Biden years, this was writ large in the actions of the DOJ and the FBI. We have all seen it,” she added.
“Now, when Mr. Patel was before us, before I started my questioning, I asked him a question that came from listening to my Democratic colleagues as they were questioning him,” Blackburn continued.”
“And it was, why do the Democrats fear him? Why do they fear him? And I think the answer is so very apparent. They fear him because, yes, indeed, he is out of the box. They fear him because of what he knows about Russia collusion, what he knows about some of the activity that has taken place,” she charged.
“And they fear him because he is going to return the FBI to its core mission, investigating violent crimes and keeping our nation safe. Now, I’m pleased that he’s going to focus on violent crime. We know that, under President Trump, violent crime was down 17 percent,” Blackburn added.
During his hearings, Patel promised Blackburn that, as FBI director, he would “do everything” to help her expose Jeffrey Epstein’s files, particularly his client list.
The Tennessee Republican questioned Patel on how he would handle the Epstein case. The disgraced sex-trafficking financier died in 2019 while awaiting trial. Last year, nearly 200 previously redacted names from court documents in a lawsuit against his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, were made public.
Blackburn indicated that there is still more to learn, including the identities of those who were on his plane and any accomplices.
“I want to talk to you about the Epstein case. I have worked on this for years trying to get those records of who flew on Epstein’s plane and who helped him build this international human trafficking sex trafficking ring,” she said.
“Now, earlier, I urged then-Chairman [Dick] Durbin [D-Ill.] to subpoena those records, and I ended up being blocked by Senator Durbin and Christopher Wray. They stonewalled on this,” she said. “And I know that breaking up these trafficking rings is important to President Trump. So will you work with me on this issue? So we know who worked with Jeffrey Epstein in building these sex trafficking rings?” she asked.
“Absolutely, Senator,” Patel responded. “Child sex trafficking has no place in the United States of America. And I will do everything, if confirmed as FBI director, to make sure the American public knows the full weight of what happened in the past and how we are going to counterman missing children and exploited children going forward,” he said.