Sen. @ChuckGrassley gavels down both @FBIDirectorKash Patel and @AdamSchiff after the two erupt over Jeffrey Epstein. pic.twitter.com/duKlEBsjE5
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) September 16, 2025
FBI Director Kash Patel went on unhinged rants while he was questioned by Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Booker pointed out that key agents working on important task forces involving terrorism and child trafficking have been diverted to work instead on immigration matters.
“Donald Trump promised to make us all safer,” said Booker. “You have pushed out senior FBI agents with decades of knowledge and experience. In fact, this is the first time in FBI history that neither the director nor the deputy director have any experience with the FBI. You’ve shifted the agency’s priorities primarily to pursuing Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.”
Patel went into a rage in response: “You don’t get to say that America is not safer under this leadership! America is safer because of the work of the FBI!”
Patel exploded into a rant about “Russiagate” and Jan 6″ when he was asked by Schiff about moving convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to a low-security prison in Texas.
“The Bureau of Prisons decided on their own, without any consultation with [Deputy Attorney General Todd] Blanche or anyone else, that they were going to suddenly – completely unrelated to this interview – move her to a prison not suitable for a sex offender?” Schiff said. “You want the American people to believe that? Do you think they’re stupid?”
Visibly angry, Patel then launched into a tirade against Schiff: “What I am doing is protecting this country, providing historic reform and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you! And we have countlessly proven you to be a liar in Russiagate, in Jan. 6… you’re the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate! You’re a disgrace to this institution and an utter coward!”