At today's House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) slammed President Trump during a hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel.
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00:00Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman and ranking member for holding this important budget hearing.
00:09I also want to say a thank you to our witness, Director Kash Patel, for appearing before the subcommittee today.
00:16And as my colleague Tom Cole said, welcome back to the House of Representatives.
00:20So a well-functioning, well-funded, well-led Federal Bureau of Investigation is critical to the safety and the security of the American people.
00:29The men and women of the FBI are dedicated public servants who work diligently and often in dangerous settings to keep criminals off of our streets.
00:38But unfortunately, the Bureau's civil servants have been the focus of demeaning and destructive attacks from this administration and its allies in the media,
00:48which endanger and undermine the administration of justice in this country.
00:52The American people expected President Trump to address the high cost of living.
00:57But the President is not laser-focused on the cost of living crisis.
01:01He is actually making it worse.
01:05Instead, he put Elon Musk and billionaires in charge of our government,
01:08and they are attacking civil servants who are not loyal to him,
01:13but to the Constitution and to the rule of law.
01:17This administration is deliberately undermining agencies that protect the American people.
01:23The President is more focused on attacking political opponents than attacking high prices for everyday essentials.
01:31And the American people are paying the cost while the President embarks on an agenda of revenge, retaliation, and retribution.
01:38And he is attempting to wield the FBI to those ends.
01:45Undue political pressure from the White House to investigate political opponents or to quash investigations of political allies threaten the Bureau's credibility and the very foundations of the rule of law.
01:57The FBI director must shield the Bureau and the rule of law from political pressure,
02:02not act as an instrument for implementing the President's political hit list.
02:07President Trump's immediate removal of senior officials at the FBI upon his taking office strikes me as an especially naked attempt
02:16to purge the Bureau's ranks of anyone who does not profess loyalty to the President.
02:22This happened the day after you told members of the United States Senate, and I quote,
02:28There will be no politicization at the FBI.
02:31There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI should I be confirmed as FBI director, end quote.
02:41The administration's retaliation against those who helped bring violent January 6 insurrections to justice
02:47and the ensuing dismissal of the head of the FBI's New York field office under your watch puts that pledge in doubt.
02:55Quite frankly, the Bureau's leadership appears at best somewhere between acquiescent to the President's retributive urges and in absentia.
03:05By instilling a culture of fear and retaliation, you're undermining the Bureau's employees
03:10and undermining the Bureau's ability to stave off terrorist attacks and keep violent criminals off of our streets.
03:18The FBI plays a critical role in intelligence gathering and analysis.
03:23The FBI does not bring just criminals to justice.
03:26It foils terror plots.
03:28With a weakened and discouraged Bureau workforce, Americans are less safe because of this administration.
03:35Even though we received President Trump's concepts of a budget plan on Friday,
03:41we are now into May without a real budget from the White House.
03:45I'm eager to learn about how the FBI would continue to fulfill its mission
03:49with a proposed $545 million cut to salaries and expenses,
03:55especially with the suggestion that the Bureau should reduce or eliminate, quote,
04:00duplicative intelligence activities that are already effectively housed in other agencies, end quote.
04:08If the Bureau plans to cut intelligence analysts,
04:11at the same time other intelligence agencies are enacting broad cuts to their workforces,
04:17the administration will be making our government and the American people more susceptible
04:21to violent criminals and to terrorist attacks.
04:24The FBI exists to protect Americans from criminals.
04:28The American people deserve assurance that everyone will be treated fairly and equally under the law.
04:36They are not seeing that from the Trump administration's FBI under your leadership.
04:41And we must receive clear and convincing answers as to why that is.
04:46I look forward to your testimony and I yield back.