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A heated confrontation erupts as Senator Cory Booker takes aim at FBI Director Kash Patel during a tense Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on September 15, 2026. Booker delivers a blistering criticism of Patel's leadership, comparing his behavior to that of an immature college student and calling him an "incompetent lackey." The senator also accuses Patel of refusing to answer questions about the alleged personal use of FBI travel resources and raises serious concerns over the investigation and subpoena of journalists. As tensions escalate, Booker blasts Senate Republicans for allegedly shielding Patel from accountability, turning the hearing into a dramatic political showdown that has sparked widespread attention.

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00:00He's like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member
00:04of,
00:05doing keg stands and chugging with friends.
00:07He's an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn't qualify even to be an FBI agent, sir.
00:12In an interview with Breitbart News on May 2022,
00:17you stated that you were present when President Trump declassified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
00:22You said that Trump had, quote,
00:24declassified whole sets of materials in anticipation of leaving government.
00:29You told the Wall Street Journal in August of 2022
00:32that you witnessed Trump issue verbal declassification orders,
00:37particularly related to the FBI's investigation of links between the Trump campaign and Russia
00:42near the end of his administration.
00:45Do you stand by that statement today?
00:47Yes.
00:48Have you ever made a false statement before a grand jury?
00:53Nope.
00:56Director, on May 12th of this year, before the Senate Appropriations Committee,
01:00you testified, and I'm quoting you,
01:02I can tell you unequivocally,
01:04this FBI is targeting and investigating no journalists, end quote.
01:11But in March of this year,
01:14after Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times reported that you used a full-time FBI SWAT detail
01:20to protect and drive your girlfriend,
01:23your agents interviewed your girlfriend about Ms. Williamson's reporting.
01:28Is that true?
01:29Why are you talking about my loved ones who have been threatened?
01:32I did not ask you.
01:33It's a yes or no question.
01:35You ask the question and I'm going to answer it.
01:37I'm going to take your failure to answer as an affirmation.
01:40Your agents ran Elizabeth Williamson's name through federal databases to gather information about her,
01:46yes or no?
01:47You can say whatever lies you want.
01:49We're not going to participate.
01:50Lies?
01:50Is it a lie?
01:51Are you saying that that is not a fact?
01:53Stop falsely attacking me and my loved ones.
01:57I am not.
01:58We have seen multiple people threaten our lives convicted in federal court based on this line of attack.
02:04So I'm not going to participate in it.
02:06Chairman, I'm asking yes or no questions about activities of the FBI.
02:09I've answered it.
02:10That is a matter of oversight I have a right to do.
02:14I'm not going to.
02:16Normally I would say,
02:17but this seems to be a personal thing to him.
02:20And the extent to which.
02:22It is interesting that he is using resources from the FBI in a way that he's not willing to be
02:28transparent and open about.
02:30His agents recommended moving forward to determine whether a New York Times reporter violated federal stalking law.
02:36The Department of Justice, though, ended it.
02:39They said he could no longer do this because there was no legal basis.
02:43And it looked like retaliation against this particular reporter.
02:48The fact that he will not discuss it, the fact that he won't be transparent and accountable, to me, is
02:54a further indication of him using FBI resources for his own personal benefit.
03:01Now, he continues to attack the press.
03:07And earlier, when it comes to the New York Times, on April 22nd, his borough gave a written statement to
03:17the New York Times.
03:18They said that investigators are concerned about aggressive techniques and recrossing lines.
03:26He, again, goes on public where he's willing to discuss things on Fox News.
03:30He said to Sean Hannity, no, no, no.
03:33There's no investigation of reporters going on.
03:36He seems comfortable discussing things on Twitter and with Fox News that he's not willing to discuss here.
03:43His borough investigators were concerned a reporter crossed lines.
03:48And there was no, and then he said there was no absolute, there was absolutely no investigation.
03:53One of those two occasions, he is lying.
03:57Now, let's the record reflect that the director is declining to even discuss this.
04:02The record has your bureau's written statement.
04:06We have Hannity's public denial, where you are clearly willing to talk about these matters.
04:11We have your May 12th testimony.
04:14None of these line up.
04:16Somewhere you're lying.
04:18The message that every reporter in America is getting right now is that we have an FBI director
04:24that is attacking the most vaunted of our amendments, which is our first one, freedom of the press.
04:30If you write about this director, this FBI will run your name through government databases.
04:36That's not law enforcement.
04:38That is this man before us, using a police agency to settle personal grievances about a story that embarrassed him.
04:48And this is not a one-time thing, Mr. Patel.
04:51You do it often.
04:53In July, you did it again.
04:55And this time, a federal judge had to stop you.
04:58In July, the New York Times reported on security problems with an airplane from Qatar given to the president.
05:06Within two days, you personally went to the White House and spent the better part of a day directing subpoenas
05:14against the reporters who wrote it.
05:16Not a leaker, you went after the reporters.
05:21Grand jury subpoenas were served on three New York Times reporters.
05:27Armed FBI agents went to their homes.
05:31You subpoenaed their phone company for their call records.
05:35You subpoenaed the records of one reporter's mother.
05:39You get upset when somebody writes a fair story about your girlfriend, but you're out there using the FBI to
05:46go after a reporter's mom.
05:48You subpoenaed the records of two reporters' spouses.
05:51Not their girlfriends, but their spouses.
05:54This is a fact pattern.
05:58Director, the president was secretly shuttled from the Qatari jet via an airport catering truck to a smaller Air Force
06:07jet on July 8th.
06:09The story ran the next day on July 9th.
06:13You demanded those reporters' phone records, but you didn't just go back to this period.
06:19As an act of further intimidation of reporters, you went back six months all the way to January 1st, before
06:27there was even a story.
06:29Six months before there could have even been a leak.
06:32There was no crime in January.
06:35The judge admonished you for this.
06:37The judge saw this for what it was.
06:39An abuse of power.
06:43On July 23rd, a federal judge in Manhattan took this up.
06:47He told your government's lawyer he would throw out every one of those subpoenas.
06:52He raised rather to sanction your lawyers for false statements and sworn applications.
06:59Your own lawyers conceded that there was inadvertent errors, end quote, in their filings.
07:06Director, you talked a lot about your making history.
07:10Has any federal judge in the entire history of the FBI ever asked whether to sanction the government for what
07:19it subpoor in a subpoena application?
07:21Do you know that?
07:23Yes, I do.
07:24They have.
07:24We weren't targeting journalists.
07:25No, sir, they haven't.
07:26We were targeting the leakers of classified information.
07:29You are abusing this office.
07:29If you're going to continue to mischaracterize our work.
07:32I'm not characterizing it.
07:33I am stating a fact pattern.
07:35Go ahead.
07:36Nothing have I said is not supported in the facts of your agency.
07:41You're unwilling to offer transparency here and talk about things that deal with your girlfriend.
07:47But you should talk about your personal behavior.
07:50This isn't a personal vendetta.
07:52Senators on both sides of the aisle should have to know why are you using FBI resources in ways that
07:59benefit yourself and your family and your girlfriend.
08:02But you won't even answer questions.
08:05And yet, like a thug, you're using your agency to go after reporters in a chill to one of the
08:13most sacrosanct ideals of the United States of America.
08:16They can pass you all the notes they want.
08:18But the truth is clear.
08:21Right now, you are stonewalling this committee for asking simple questions of accountability on how you're using government resources to
08:30go after reporters.
08:31And yes, there is a chill out there.
08:34Reporters like you like, like Hannity, you give them all the information they want.
08:39You answer their questions.
08:41Reporters you don't like, you subpoena their mother's records.
08:45Mr. Director, I have one last pattern of questions.
08:51You announced in your life, in your, excuse me, in your term, you've announced investigations against a plot on the
08:59UFC on the White House lawn.
09:02You've publicly discussed charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center.
09:07You discussed the 764 network investigation policy.
09:11You are very chattery when it comes to investigations when they are not talked about before this committee.
09:18But here, here, you stonewall us.
09:22So let me put this together.
09:24A reporter wrote about you and your bureau ran her name through records and began an investigation.
09:30Reporters wrote about the president and your bureau went to their homes and subpoenaed their mothers.
09:36And the one investigation you promised Congress, the one that president said himself should happen, is the one I want
09:44to talk about.
09:44You said that when the president claimed that there was a forgery in the Epstein files, that the card he
09:53sent, you promised this committee and others that you would investigate that forgery, that a forged document on a child's
10:02sex trafficker's birthday book, you said you would investigate.
10:05Has there been any investigation, any witnesses interviewed, any names on what you promised us you would do when it
10:15comes to that birthday book?
10:17Before you answer that question, I said at the opening, I'd give you some time to respond if you, as
10:26long as you didn't talk over people.
10:28And I think you've been very reserved in that.
10:32So answer his question and then I'll give you time before I call on Senator Graham.
10:39In that testimony before the House, where you said clearly you would launch an investigation.
10:44I got your question.
10:45He's allowing me to answer it.
10:46Yeah, answer it, please.
10:48I am.
10:48You going to stop?
10:50You done?
10:50Do you want some time to speak about it?
10:54Sure, if you give it to me.
10:55Go ahead.
10:55Sure.
10:56Sir, the Obama administration subpoenaed countless reporters, did 1,200 interviews of reporters in an investigation into reporters.
11:04This administration focuses on the leakers of classified information that endangered the lives of elected officials and American citizens.
11:11We are not targeting reporters at any point in time.
11:14We are trying to find out who in the government with access to the—
11:18He can answer at the end of my time.
11:19This is still my time.
11:20No, he's not.
11:21Your time's up.
11:22No, sir, my time is not up.
11:24You allowed Mike Lee to go two and a half minutes over, but you had a Democratic senator?
11:29You're going to cut off?
11:30At a previous meeting, I let you go three hearings over.
11:34As you have other people.
11:35I have one more line of questioning to give.
11:37No, he's—
11:38So, Mr., then I'll make my concluding remark, and you can do whatever you want, sir.
11:41My concluding remark is we don't have an FBI director.
11:44We have a lackey here.
11:46Okay.
11:46Who's using—
11:47And frankly, he's not even a good lackey.
11:49He's an incompetent lackey.
11:50Okay.
11:51He's like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member
11:55of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends.
11:58He's an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn't qualify even to be an FBI agent, sir.
12:03He won't answer questions for a committee.
12:05He insults Democrats here, and you don't step in.
12:09He has a little book by his side that he literally is using to try to intimidate people in the
12:14same way he intimidates reporters.
12:16He is a disgrace, sir.
12:17And the fact that we are not asking him, in fact, demanding him to answer the most best basic oversight
12:23questions is a further testimony to what is bad is not just that we have a rogue FBI agent intimidating
12:30reporters.
12:31What's bad is that we have Republicans in the Senate that are enabling him to go without any objective oversight
12:38or transparency or accountability.
12:41Why do you—
12:41How many times—
12:42How many times in the White House—
12:44Why do you figure you're something special?
12:46Now, we've had—
12:47I'm not special.
12:48My time has now just—
12:49Which one Republican goes over, and we have one Democrat go over.
12:51Sir, you are not being balanced in your way.
12:54Let's—
12:54My time has just now reached what Mike Lee did.
12:57Let's get—
12:57And we as a committee have done what you've done before, which is ask him to answer basic questions.
13:02He won't even do it in writing.
13:04This is a mockery and a sham.
13:06We have a rogue agent intimidating the press, violating people's First Amendment rights, and doing everything the president has.
13:14You don't show much respect for your chairman.
13:17You've gone on now for three minutes.
13:18Sir, I have utter respect for you.
13:19In fact, I have love for you.
13:21And this is why I know this is not who you are.
13:24We're going to go—
13:25You are not holding this witness in an objective way to answer the questions that are given to him by
13:29Democratic senators, yet he insults them time and time again.
13:33What he did to Senator Walsh should make this whole committee stand up and walk out and sanction this man
13:43for speaking to one of my colleagues the way he spoke to them.
13:46Even Senator Whitehouse, who was then sitting in, tried to control this witness who makes everything personal.
13:53I have a right to ask questions about how he's spending money on his girlfriend.
13:58And yet he stonewalls me, but will run on Fox News and talk about any and all these issues.
14:04This is ridiculous.
14:06This is a sham.
14:07And what's bad is not the person sitting there who's a mockery to the office he holds.
14:12What is bad is the people that are enabling him to do so.
14:16You understand, Mr. Director, why during the Kavanaugh hearings I let people talk and talk because it takes longer to
14:27shut them up than it does to let them talk.
14:30Now, you go ahead and say what you wanted to say.
14:32I don't have much to say.
14:34This guy called me a thug.
14:35It's kind of ironic.
14:36He's running for president of the United States.
14:38He just got his 22nd ad campaign.
14:40Next.
14:41Senator Graham.
14:43I think Senator Graham's axe.
14:46Shame on you.
14:48Shame on this board.
14:50Were you done?
14:51I'm done.
14:52Somebody behind me is yelling.
14:55Yeah, brother, I will repeat what you said.
14:57You're getting thrown out, but they can't throw me out.
14:59I'm going to hold this man accountable for as long as he is in his job until he gets fired,
15:03which he probably will because he's incompetent at his job and continues to do things that merit his removal.
15:09Yes.
15:09Shame on you, sir.
15:10Director Patel, were you done?
15:12By the way, violent crime arrests by the FBI in New Jersey are up 75% on top of the
15:16historic results we've already delivered for the American people.
15:19Yeah, thanks to the state police and local police officers.
15:21Irrespective of the lies that he continues to tell.
15:23Sir, nothing I have said here is a lie.
15:24You said your time's up.
15:25Are you done or not?
15:26No, are you done or not, sir?
15:27You want to go run out to the media and talk to the microphone.
15:29If you want to answer my questions, go to the next person.
15:31This is ridiculous.
15:32What a mockery you are.
15:34You are the biggest mockery in the United States Senate, and you're sitting next to the ship.
15:37Yeah, well, 8 million people in New Jersey don't think so.
15:39At least I didn't get my job the way you got your job.
15:41Are you going to interfere with Senator Graham asking her questions, too?
15:45I certainly will not.
15:46Too, as well?
15:47I certainly will not.
15:48Are you done now?
15:48I am done.
15:49Are you ready to shut up?
15:51I am done, sir.
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