00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman. Director Patel, thank you for being here today. You'll recall well in January at your confirmation hearing before this committee, I raised the prospect of politically motivated retaliation and you promised me, as you did other members of this committee, quote,
00:22quote, every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard and no one will be terminated for case assignments. You went on to tell me, quote, all FBI employees will be protected against political retribution. And you assured one of my colleagues that you would honor the internal review process of the FBI.
00:45I'm not going to mince words. You lied to us. In the short time that you've been FBI director, you've presided over a rash of retaliatory firing. Three FBI agents have recently sued you.
01:02They are FBI agents with 60 years between them of distinguished service, rescuing hostages, saving kids from predators, dismantling drug cartels.
01:16And their allegations, their civil allegations are a searing indictment of your tenure as FBI director. But it's not just those three. The FBI agents association has said that your actions, quote, distract agents from their work,
01:41foster fear that their assignments could cost them their careers, either now or under the next administration and increase the risk of criminal and national security threats by undermining unity and morale within the bureau, end quote.
01:59This association, this association, as you know, is voluntary. It represents 14,000 members, 90% of all the active agents. These are your employees saying that your performance has been unqualified and unfit.
02:16And there is mounting evidence that these retaliatory firings were the result of direction from the White House.
02:27There have been instances in the past here, history of the bureau of political interference and political direction from the director's office,
02:39but not the kind of institutional interference that we're seeing from the White House right now.
02:48I'm going to ask you, has anyone from the White House contacted you about personnel decisions?
02:59I completely disagree with your entire premise that I have lied or misleading the FBI.
03:04If I were, the results that I announced today by the men and women of the FBI and the historic records we are doing to keep this country safe would not be possible.
03:12The men and women of the FBI are responding to our leadership and this administration's priorities.
03:17The only way people get terminated at the FBI is if they fail to meet the muster of the job and their duties.
03:22And that is where I will leave it. And you accusing me of lying is something I don't take lightly, but I'm not going to get into a tit for tat with you.
03:29Well, let me just ask you to answer my question. Has anyone from the White House contacted you about personnel decisions?
03:38Generally speaking, we always discuss with the White House OMB during the budget process how many personnel we need, who we need, where.
03:45The answer is yes.
03:47For budgetary purposes and real life.
03:50Have you been directed to fire people, agents, because they participated in investigations of the president?
03:57I don't receive directions to do that.
03:59I make the decisions.
04:01Has anyone asked you to do it?
04:04The best information is yes, you've taken suggestions and directions from the White House in firing qualified agents.
04:13Any termination at the FBI was a decision that I made based on the evidence that I have as a director of the FBI.
04:20And it's my job and I'm not going to shy away from it.
04:22And as you stated, those are allegations and that is an ongoing litigation.
04:26So they'll have their day in court. So will we.
04:28The allegations are not just in that lawsuit, Director Patel.
04:33And I think your testimony confirms that, in fact, you've taken direction from the White House.
04:38I don't.
04:38In those retaliatory firings.
04:40It literally does not.
04:41Because you've acknowledged that, in fact, they have been in contact with you about personnel decisions.
04:46The White House has been.
04:47Do not put words in my mouth.
04:49We're on the record.
04:49The White House, like any administration, contacts its agencies on the budgeting process and where it needs personnel and where the mission priorities are.
04:57That always happens.
04:58If they didn't do that, they would be abdicating the responsibility to law enforcement.
05:02I will always work with my partners in the chain of command at the Department of Justice in the White House to ensure that this FBI is delivering the results we are delivering to include the lowest murder rate in modern U.S. history, to include the most fentanyl seizures in modern U.S. history, to include the most lives saved and the most children found in modern U.S. history.
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