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Episode 4232: Tragedy Over The Potomac; Kash, Tulsi, And RFK Hearings
Episode 4232: Tragedy Over The Potomac; Kash, Tulsi, And RFK Hearings ...
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Dick Durbin
Criminally or civilly, we're putting you all on notice. Does this sound like the kind of nonpartisan law enforcement professional who should lead the FBI? No, not to me. This is someone who's left behind a trail of grievances throughout his life, lashing out at anyone who disrespects him or doesn't agree with him. Don't take it from me. Listen to these Republicans who worked with him during the Trump's first administration. Attorney General Bill Barr, and I quote, I categorically oppose making Patel deputy FBI director. I said it would happen over my dead body. Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency, National Security Advisor John Bolton. I didn't think he was qualified. He demonstrated no policy aptitude at all. I was forced to hire him. President Trump's Deputy National Security Adviser, Charles Kupperman. The idea that Cash Patel is going to be the FBI director is appalling. His legal career is modest at best. His ideas are ludicrous. CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign after President Trump proposed making Mr. Patel CIA deputy director. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Mr. Patel lied about whether Nigeria had approved a hostage rescue operation, putting American lives at risk. But Mr. Patel would have us believe that all of these public servants, all Republicans, all from the first Trump administration, and apparently anyone else who's critical of him, are nothing but government gangsters and deep state members. Many of them have made his list of enemies. Just this week, CNN reported that during the Trump administration, CIA officials referred Mr. Patel to the Justice Department for criminal investigation for sharing classified information without authorization. Last week, I asked the Justice Department and intelligence community for information on. On any criminal referrals relating to misconduct by Mr. Patel. I have yet to receive a response. Mr. Patel's record is clear. He traffics in debunked conspiracy theories that serve or benefit his political beliefs. Let's start with January 6th. And he dedicates a whole chapter in this book on January 6th. That's something that each and every one of us as witnesses to. January 6th have our own view of. I'll be grateful always to the Capitol Hill police officers who risked their lives defending me, members of Congress, and visitors to the United States Capitol. On that day, Mr. Patel posted on social media, quote, January 6th. Never an insurrection. Cowards in uniform exposed. End of quote. Let me repeat that. Cowards in uniform exposed. Who was in the capitol building on January 6th in a uniform? The Capitol police were. Do you think they were Cowards. Many of them risked their lives and some gave their lives in defense of this building. How about the D.C. police who were here as well? They were in uniform. Cowards, risking their lives as well. Some of them being battered and beaten by these mobsters that came into the Capitol. And Mr. Patel claims that the FBI agency aspires to lead. Get this now. Was planning January 6th for a year. He says the FBI was planning January 6th for a Year. That's a quote. Mr. Patel has gone so far as to co produce and sell musical recordings of a song performed by January 6th rioters in jail. Rioters who violently assaulted police officers. He has described this January 6th choir as, quote, political prisoners. Political prisoners. But at least six members pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement officers on January 6th. All six have now been pardoned by President Trump. Here are some of those people who received blanket clemency by President Trump on his first day in office in the second term. Julian Cater assaulted Capitol Police officers with pepper spray, incapacitating three officers. Ryan Nichols sprayed pepper spray on multiple police officers. After the attack, Nichols posted on Facebook and I quote, so yes, I'm calling for violence and I will be violent. Jordan Mink struck officers, quote, aggressively with a long pole. He spat at officers and threw large items at them. Armed with a knife, Ronald Sandlin shouted at officers, quote, you're going to die. Get out of the way. Sandlin shoved officers when they tried to lock the doors to the Senate Gallery. After breaching the Capitol, James McGrew struck an officer and lunged for his baton. McGrew also threw a wooden handrail with metal brackets at officers. I want to read a sentence from this book on the January 6th experience just to give you an idea of Mr. Patel's take on what he calls a haphazard riot. By everything we could see, the crowd at the Capitol was unarmed or armed only with non lethal objects like bottles, flag poles or bike racks. Mr. Patel has also peddled conspiracy theories for his own financial benefit, promoting a line of dietary supplements that claim to help people detox from COVID 19 vaccines. During my time on this committee, I was fortunate to get to know and work with former FBI director Bob Mueller. I met him a few days after 9 11. That's when he took over the FBI. I trusted him. I worked with him. I did everything I could to help him because I believed that the FBI was a critical central agency in restoring America's confidence, that we were safe. Bob Mueller was an extraordinary man. Oh, he was a Republican. Make no bones about it. He said it and admitted it, and I knew it. He comes from the San Francisco area. And when he was in college and graduated, a friend of his, a year ahead of him, had enlisted in the Marine Corps and was killed in Vietnam. Bob was inspired to do the same thing, join up in the Marine Corps, and he did. And he was the first lieutenant in Vietnam. He received a Bronze Star with a valor pen and he also received a Purple Heart. He was injured in battle. I read about his experience because after he was healed from that wound to his leg, he returned to combat. He was just that kind of fellow. Regardless of party, he was a real American. He was a longtime federal prosecutor, a US attorney, the head of the DOJ's criminal division and acting deputy attorney general before he became head of the FBI after 9 11. I worked with him and we had a good relationship, a professional relationship. We didn't always see eye to eye, but I respected him so much for what he had given to this country. In this book, Mr. Patel calls Director Bob Mueller a swamp creature. With all due respect, Mr. Patel, I've not worn the uniform of this country. And neither of you. To think that you would denigrate Bob Mueller's service to our country and call him a swamp creature is an indication of the depths your political views take you. The FBI plays a critical role in keeping America safe from terrorism, violent crime and other threats. Our nation needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances. The American people deserve an FBI director focused on keeping our families safe from terrorism, drug trafficking and violent crime, not this checklist of grievances we find in this book. Mr. Patel, your record makes it clear you're not that person. I yield. Thank you, Senator Durbin. Before I call on. Okay. Stephen K. Bannon. Stephen k. Bannon. Thursday the 30th of January year overlord 2025. This is going to be a historic day. You have three simultaneous hearings. That is Cash Patel getting read the riot act from Dick Durbin. Grassley took almost 30 minutes in introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be brutal today and we're going to need Everybody at the ramparts. 202-224-3121. Also want everybody either either get over to Mike Davis's Article 3 project or grace will be put in the spread it out, become a force multiplier Bill Blaster. Make sure today it's going to be intense. We get Tulsi. Gabbard's about to Start. Bobby Kennedy is about to start. So you have the Intelligence Committee with Tulsi Gabbard to be dni. You have the Judiciary Committee with the Cash Patel to be FBI director. You have the Health and Human Services Committee. Senator Tuberville's on that. Reviewing Bobby Kennedy and the fireworks went off yesterday. Today is going to be quite intense. On top of all that, a tragic. Just about a mile so from the war room, the plane still on the water, a tragic incident last night. And for folks who have been in the military cannot figure out how with the experience of army helicopter Apache pilots, this happened last night. But questions all over the place. President Trump is going to go to the press briefing room. He's going to give remarks. I'm sure he's going to take questions. That's an 11 o'clock. So you're going to hear a lot more of. You're going to hear my voice if at all. But we're going to go right to the action. Do we have Tulsi? We're going to do this live. Tulsi or Bobby, Are they doing statements right now? What we got Not Okay. If they do the Democrat statements on both, I want to go to it. Okay, let's go to Bernie Sanders is on Tulsi. Bobby, let's go. Let's go to Bernie Sanders. You pointed out yesterday the outrageous cost of health care in America. Two or three times more than other industrialized countries are paying. Unbelievably, in this country, hundreds of thousands of people deal with cancer, struggling for their lives. You know what happens to them? They go bankrupt. They deplete their lives savings. In other words, when we talk about making America healthy, you got to talk about a broken, corrupt health care system. Your uncle, President Kennedy, your father, Bobby Kennedy, great senator from New York, your uncle sat right now where Senator Kennedy is. Senator Cassidy is sitting chairman of this committee. All of them did what I think is the right thing. They said health care is a human right. They looked all over the world, they saw every other major country guaranteeing health care to all people, whether rich or poor, young or old. So I'm not quite sure how we can move to making America healthy again unless we have the guts to take on the insurance companies and the drug companies and guarantee health care to all people. I'll be asking you a question about that. Lowering the cost of prescription drugs. How do you make America healthy again if one out of four people in this country cannot afford the price of prescription drugs, which is far higher in America, any other country on earth Under President Biden, we made some progress and this committee played an active role in having Medicare begin for the first time, negotiating the price of drugs that we are paying. And I'm going to ask you whether or not you will demand that President Trump follow what we accomplished here. We are the only major country on earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave. Mr. Kennedy, there are women today who are having babies. Then they got to go back to work in a week or two because they have no guaranteed paid family in medical leave. How do you have a healthy country when women are forced to go back to work? When women and men get fired because they stay home taking care of their sick kids? That's not making America healthy again. And I would go a little bit beyond the jurisdiction of Health and Human Services, but I think it's important. If you are working 50 or 60 hours a week, making 13, 14 bucks an hour, which is what millions of Americans are, can you be healthy? Will you join those of us who think that in the United States, wealthiest country out of. We're going to return to Cash hearing right now. We're going to jump back and forth between all three. We got another streaming site taking others. Let's go. Colleagues. I created a Cash bingo card that I have available to any of my colleagues who would like it on the other side of the aisle. Some may view this as an unserious caricature and not appropriate for this committee. Sadly, I consider it a serious caricature of what I expect to be witnessed today. I think we'll have words like enemies list and deep state. I've already X'd out four boxes in the opening statements alone. The fact of the matter is some people will be here to simply substantiate a false narrative. At worst, they may be just going through an unfounded litany of quotes and half quotes and half truths, some of which have already been dispelled by the chairman after the opening statements. Mr. Chair and Ranking Member. In my 10 years in the Senate, I hope I've established a reputation for being fair, doing my homework, and taking tough positions that have been met with harsh criticism. Heck, I've even been censured by my entire state and 30 counties for taking tough positions. And I stand by those decisions today and my decision to support Cash Patel. When President Trump announced his intent to nominate Cash, I contacted Trey Gowdy and others who worked with Cash and they gave me glowing recommendations. So I called cash on December 2nd and I offered to help him with his nomination. Since then, we have spent hours Together, in person and on the phone. I've asked him difficult questions, and I've urged him to reach out to members across the aisle. In fact, Cash Patel has met with 60 members of the US Senate. Every member except the last three who were sworn in, and the majority of the members on the other side of the dais in this committee and members of the committee. Chair Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, friends and colleagues on the committee. I've completed my due diligence of Cash Patel, and I am honored to provide my strongest recommendation for his confirmation. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for that introduction. Before I swear you, I want to make clear that you. Before you give your statement, if you want to introduce family and friends in the audience, you're welcome to do that. Would you please stand? Raise your hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give to the committee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? I do, Mr. Chair. Okay, you may proceed. Hit the toll. Chairman Grass, right now. Let's go. Ranking Member Durbin and members of the Judiciary, Baltimore, Fairfax County. We had DOD and federal officials there, and these first responders, as always, ran towards the tragedy. There'll be a time to figure out how what happened and how we rectify it. But today, our thoughts and prayers ought to be with the families and again thanking our first responders. Ms. Gabbard, welcome. And congratulations on your nomination to be the next Director of National Intelligence. I'd like to begin by thanking you, literally, for your decades of public service, both in uniform and as a member of Congress from Hawaii. I applaud your continuing commitment to serve should you be confirmed. Now, the President has nominated you to be Director of National Intelligence. Most folks probably don't understand the importance of this position. If confirmed, you would lead 18 agencies of the IC. You'll also serve as the principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council for all intelligence matters related to national security. And in this role, you'll be responsible for over $100 billion between the National Intelligence Program and the Military Intelligence Program, or the NIP and the mip, as we call them here. It's a position of great importance and significance to our national security, created by. After one of our worst national security failures. 9, 11. For that reason, when Congress established this position, thanks in large part to our colleague and our friend Susan Collins, it mandated in law that any individual nominated for this position must have, and I quote, extensive national security expertise. Now, I appreciated you taking the time to to meet with me. And as I noted in that office, both before and after, I continue to have significant concerns about your judgment and your qualifications to meet the standards set by law. First, as I noted previously, the DNI was created in part to make sure we had appropriate intelligence sharing, which prior to 9 11, obviously we haven't. But the mission also is to not only share information between the ic, but also with our allies. There's no legal requirement that our allies share intelligence with us. It's all predicated on trust. Trust that our allies will protect each other's secrets. It appears to me you have repeatedly excused our adversaries worst actions and instead often blame them for on the United States and those very allies. For example, you blamed NATO for Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. You rejected the conclusion that Assad used chemical weapons in Syria, despite it being the unanimous assessment of the then Trump administration's dod, State Department and ic, as well as the assessment of our European allies. Instead, you blame the United States for supporting terrorist groups in Syria. Now, I don't know if your intent in making those statements was to defend those dictators or if you were simply unaware of the intelligence and how your statements would be perceived. In either case, it raises, at least for this Senator, serious questions about your judgment. It also leads me to question whether you can develop the trust necessary to give our allies confidence that they can share their most sensitive intelligence with us. Make no mistake about it, if they stop sharing that intelligence, the United States will be less safe. We've seen this as recently as this past year where because of those strong intelligence sharing between the United States and Austria, countless lives were saved by disrupting a terrorist attack that was going to take place at the Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Second, you have been publicly outspoken in your praise and defense of Edward Snowden, someone who betrayed the trust of our nation and jeopardized the security of our country. The truth is, the vast majority of the information he stole and leaked before running off to China and Russia, might I add, had nothing to do with Americans privacy and compromised our most important sources and methods. And in many ways we're still paying a price for that. And I believe that Edward Snowden's action put our men and women in uniform in places like Iraq and Afghanistan at risk. You have celebrated Snowden as a quote, brave whistleblower and actually put forward legislation asking for his pardon. Furthermore, when given the opportunity to clarify your position in pre hearing questions, you declined and instead you expressed, and again I quote, the DNI has no role in determining whether or not Edward Snowden is a lawful whistleblower. Wait, that is. That is troubling to me in so many ways. Not only do you think that someone who divulged secrets and then ran off to Russia should be celebrated as brave, but you don't seem to understand the DNI's role in determining whistleblower determinations. In fact, the DNI has a significant role in transmitting lawful whistleblower complaints to this committee. We're going to go back to cash out. We're going to come back to Tulsi and Bobby. Let's hit it. Unanswered by the FBI in recent times. That will not occur. If I am confirmed, all appropriate requests for information will be responded to expeditiously and fully. I'm committed to working alongside the dedicated men and women of the FBI. They are warriors of justice, and I will always have their backs because they have the backs of the American people. I look forward to answering your questions. And I want to take a moment to thank my family, my friends, people who traveled here, and my entire team that has made this day possible. God bless America. And I look forward to your questions. Seven minutes, first round. Is that right? Seven minutes. Three minutes. The second round. Mr. Patel, go. Hit it. I'm not going to go through all the things that you've done through your career because I said those in my note opening statements, but Democrats on the. That allows us to seek out those foreign foreigners abroad for coverage. And it's helped prevent terrorist attacks. It helps us prevent foreign cyber attacks. It helps us on a topic that a lot of folks are looking at, fentanyl trafficking. Now, many in this Congress and many on the committee have tried to reform this legislation to better balance security and civil liberties. However, you have consistently gone further. Not only did you vote against reauthorizing 702, you actually introduced legislation to fully repeal the whole thing, calling it again, quote, a blatant disregard for our Fourth Amendment constitutional rights. Now, I understand that since you've been nominated bdi, you've expressed a change of heart. I think that's welcome. But I have to tell you, as I try to make. I view this as a job interview. As I try to make my judgment on whether you should be confirmed, I think this. I don't find your change of heart credible because the world today is more complex and more dangerous than ever before. And we need serious people with sufficient experience to be able to navigate that complexity. I hope you use this opportunity to address my concerns and all of the members of this committee, I appreciate again your service and I'm looking forward to a thorough discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman. We welcome back Senator Richard Burr, the former chairman of this committee, who has emerged from retirement to introduce Ms. Gabbard. We're going to go to Bobby Kennedy's real quickly, Cassidy, the chairman position. Will you say unequivocally, will you, will you reassure mothers, unequivocally and without qualification that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism? Senator, I am not going into the agency with any. That's kind of a yes or no question because. So if you're. Because the data is there, and that's kind of a yes or no, and I don't mean to cut you off, but that really is a yes or no. If the data is there, I will absolutely do that. Now, there is the data. Just because I used to do hepatitis B, as I've said, I know the data is there. Well, then I will be the first person, if you show me data, I will be the first person to assure the American people that they need to take those vaccines. Now, what concerns me is that you've cast doubt on some of these vaccines recently. I mean, like last few years. But the data, and I could quote some of it, the data has been there for a long time. I've been out of the game. I've been in Congress for 16 years and this data was in large measure generated before I came to Congress. So my concern is that if you were making those claims and being so influential, I mean, your bully pulp is incredible with that responsibility that you never acquainted yourself with anything that might contradict that, what you were previously saying. Let me ask once more, if the data is brought to you and these studies that have been out there for quite some time and have been peer reviewed and it shows that these two vaccines are not associated with autism, will you ask, no, I need even more. Or will you say no, I see this. It stood the test of time. I unequivocally and without qualification say that this does not cause autism. Not only will I do that, but I will apologize for any statements that misled people otherwise. Thank you. Next, I just want to pledge you and I will never stick on a point if somebody shows me data that says I'm wrong. I know that's a, that's an interpretation people have, but it's absolutely wrong. I'm science driven and evidence driven. Big victory on the 5th of November. Now the work can finally start on the big Issues facing the country. One of the biggest is the national debt and the deficits that drive it. Hey, you think the country's broke? The country is broke. We're just printing money to keep this house of cards going. The strategy remains the same for you. You got to diversify, diversify your savings. That's why buy gold from Birch Gold. So many things are out of your control, out of the President's control. It's important to have a safe haven for your savings. Birch Gold group, my gold company, will help you convert an IRA or 401k into an IRA into physical gold. Let me repeat that. Convert your IRA or 401k into an IRA in physical gold. And the best news, it doesn't cost you a penny text band into 989-898. Get your free info kit. Plus right now through Black Friday, you receive a free 1 ounce Silver Eagle for every $5,000 you purchase. Let me repeat that. A free 1 ounce Silver Eagle for every 5,000 purchase. Protect your savings with Birch Gold. Text Bannon to 989-898 and claim your eligibility for your free silver. Today, I want to warn you of a huge change that could be coming to our money in our bank accounts. First, think back to 9 11, shortly after the government pushed through the Patriot Act. This gave the government power to spy on innocent Americans by monitoring our phone and email and tracking our movement across the Internet. Now Jim Rickards, editor of the independent financial newsletter, Strategic Intelligence and New York Times best selling author, is warning about a coming event that could elevate this governmental surveillance to a terrifying new level. In fact, some of the guests I've had on the War Room believe that the government will soon expand their powers to track our every move. If we say the wrong things on social media, donate to the wrong causes, buy firearms, or even vote maga, the government may be able to shut us out of our bank accounts. I can't say for sure if this will happen, but it's an interesting and dire warning. Fortunately, Jim Rickards, an American patriot and friend of mine, has made it his mission to educate us on what he believes is coming and how to protect yourself from the possibility of programmable money. Watch Jim's warning video now before it's censored like I've been in the past. Go to Rickards War Room.com that's Rickards War Room.com now to see the video. For over 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian, conservative wireless provider, standing behind their service and the values of their company. They're an example of putting the cause ahead of profits and that's why I'm proud to partner with them. Right now. You can either get their Every Friday Matters special. Today, Patriot Mobile is giving away a brand new smartphone. When you make the switch. Patriot Mobile offers exceptional nationwide coverage giving you access to all three major networks. Let me repeat that. Giving you access to all three major networks without your dollars funding the left. When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're supporting free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of Life, the Second Amendment and so much more. Their 100% US based customer service team makes switching easy. Keep your number and for a limited time, get a free smartphone. Go to patriotmobile.com that's all one word. Patriotmobile.com Bannon or call 972 Patriot and use promo code Friday. Again, that's a free smartphone. Let me repeat, a free smartphone offer is eligible only with the promo code Friday. This a limited time offer or until supplies run out. Terms and conditions apply. Join me make the switch today. Patriot mobile.com Bannon that's patriot mobile.com Bannon or call 972-patriot I think the concern is, is. Is how persuadable people are. But let me go on because I have limited time. I'm gonna hold myself to the same five minutes. Yesterday, Senator Bennett in finance asked you if you had once previously made statements that Lyme disease was created as a military bioweapon. And you said you may have said that once. Do you still believe that Lyme disease was created as a military bioweapon? I've never believed that, Senator. What I said is that we should always follow the evidence. There were three books suggesting that. I have not read them through. What I've said is we should always follow evidence no matter what it says. I never have said that definitively. Lyme disease was created in a biolab. Okay, next. Again, this will be a yes or no. Do you commit that you will revise any CDC recommendations only based on peer review, consensus based, widely accepted science? In other words, not personal beliefs or the beliefs of any single person that you or your department may identify? Absolutely, Senator. I am not going to go into HHS and impose my preordained opinions on anybody at hhs. I'm going to empower the scientists at HHS to do their job and make sure that we have good science that's evidence based, that's replicatable, where the raw data is published out of time. So let me get to another question, all right? Do you promise that FDA will not deprioritize or delay review and or approval of new vaccines. And that vaccine review standards will not change from historical norms. We will have the best vaccine standards with safety studies. And, and I will, if that's a little bit of a different answer than the question I ask, because what is the best could be in the eyes of the beholder. So let me read again. Promise that the FDA will not deprioritize our delay, review and or approval of new vaccines and that vaccine review standards will not change from historical norms. Yes. Great. With that, I will set a good example and I yield my time to thank you, Member. Thank you, Chairman Cassidy. And I'm going to do what I very rarely do, is actually follow up on a question from Senator Cassidy. There have been, as I understand it, dozens of studies done all over the world that make it very clear that vaccines do not cause autism. Now, you just said, if I heard correctly. Well, if the evidence is there, the evidence is there. That's it. Vaccines do not cause autism. Do you agree with that? As I said, I'm not going to go into HHS with any preordained. I asked you a simple question, Bobby. Studies all over the world say it does not. What do you think, Senator? If you show me those studies, I will absolutely, as I promised to Chairman Cassidy, I will apologize. That is a very troubling response because the study, your job was to have looked at those studies as an applicant for this job. All right, let me ask you another question about this one, about COVID Scientists with the Yale School of Public Health and University of Maryland have estimated that the COVID vaccine saved 3 million lives and prevented 18 million hospitalizations. President Trump, someone who I do not often agree with, has said that the COVID vaccine was, quote, one of the greatest miracles of the ages. That's Donald Trump. But, Bobby, you had a very different perspective at a time when thousands of Americans were dying from COVID every week. In May of 2021, you petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the emergency use of COVID vaccines. We're going to go back to Dick Durbin Grill and Cashew Hotel. This is not the only instance of a person who received President Trump's clemency committing another crime. Peter Schwartz was mentioned this morning on the radio. 38 criminal convictions. 38. He'd been sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was released because of the president's unconditional clemency, which was given to him as well. So I guess my question is this. Was President Donald Trump wrong to Give blanket clemency to the January 6th defendants. Thank you, ranking member. A couple of things on that one. The power of the presidential pardon is just that the president alignment. I concede he has the authority. I'm asking, was he wrong to do it? And as we discussed in our private meeting, Senator, I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement. And I have, including in that group, specifically addressed any violence against law enforcement on January 6th. And I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement. So do you think that America is SAFER because the 1600 people have been given an opportunity to come out of serving their sentences and live in our communities? Again, Senator, I have not looked at all 1600 individual cases. I have always advocated for imprisoning those that cause harm to our law enforcement and civilian communities. I also believe America is not safer because President Biden's commutation of a man who murdered two FBI agents, Agent Kohler's and Williams family deserve better than to have the man at point blank range fired a shotgun into their heads and murdered them released from prison. So it goes both ways. Leonard Pelletier was in prison for 45 years. He's 80 years old and he was sentenced to home confinement. So he's not free, as you might have just suggested. He killed two FBI agents. That's untrue. That's true. He did. And he went to prison for it and should have. My question to you, though is do you think America is safer because President Trump issued These pardons to 1600 of these criminal defendants, many of whom violently assaulted our police in the Capitol? Senator, America will be safe when we don't have 200,000 drug overdoses in two years. America will be safe when we don't have 50 homicides in a day. So you just won't answer the question? I don't think we're safer with Matthew Shuttle or Matthew Huddle was sent back to Indiana. I don't think we're safer with Peter Schwartz. I could go through a long list of individuals, some of whom were wanted in states, members of this committee. Let me move to another topic if I can. Tell me about your J6 choir. What is that? Well, it's not my choir. It's simply a recording that was utilized to raise funds for families in need of nonviolent offenders. Who sings on this recording? I don't know, Senator. What did you have to do with it? Simply to raise funds to assist families of nonviolent offenders whose kids needed college education payments and whose rent needed being paid. My understanding is that the performers on this J6 choir were the rioters who were in prison. I'm not aware of that, sir. I didn't have anything to do with the recording. You. You weren't aware of who made the recording? No, Senator. That's interesting. Did you receive any money for selling copies of that music or that recording? Absolutely not. Okay. You do have a foundation, though, do you not? I'm very proud of the Cash foundation and the $1.3 million we've given to families in need across this country, including active duty service members, police officers, putting kids in college, and helping people in disaster relief areas rebuild their homes and their communities. One and O, llc. Are you familiar with that? Sorry? One and O llc, I believe, Senator, you're referring to the LLC that one of the individuals has his private business with. Is it part of the Cash foundation in any way? Only in that one of the members of the board has that LLC for his outside business. Andrew Hollis, I believe that's his name. Yes. Yes. Do you know how much was paid to him from your charitable work? Yes. Like any other charity, we had to go out and fundraise something I'm sure every member of this committee is familiar with. And we use digital marketing campaigns, and I believe we paid a digital marketing company through one and o a quarter million dollars to raise $500,000, which we gave away to families in need, like when hurricanes struck Florida, Texas, in North Carolina. We will be going through the details of your foundation and the expenditures with the questions for record that the chairman has mentioned. I look forward to a chance to answer Those under oath. Mr. Patel, you frequently associated with and sometimes praised extremist figures with well documented histories of racism, anti Semitism, conspiracies, and the like. In September 2023, you appeared with Laura Loomer at an event promoting your book. This one here. You shared a photo of yourself and Loomer in which you held her book and she held yours. Just a few months before this event, Ms. Loomer posted on X that the September 11th terrorist attacks were, quote, an inside job. Around that time, she accused Florida's first lady, Casey DeSantis, of exaggerating her cancer diagnosis to gain voter sympathy. A number of my Republican colleagues on this committee have criticized Ms. Loomer's extremism. One of my colleagues described her as a, quote, crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage. Another called her really toxic. Giving all this, why did you associate with Ms. Loomer, Senator? As you can see, I Took a photograph with an individual who showed up at a book event. I don't believe I'm guilty by association. And I certainly don't believe that an individual who is the first minority to serve as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for this country is a racist in any way. And I detest any conjecture to the contrary. You familiar with a Stu Peters? Does that name ring a bell? I'm sorry, what? Are you familiar with Mr. Stu Peters? Not off the top of my head. He made eight separate appearances on his podcast. He promoted outrageous conspiracy theories and worked with a prominent neo Nazi. There are more. Ted Nugent, it goes on, list goes on. I'm just asking, when it comes to your association with individuals, why are so many of them in this category? My association, as you loosely define it, is by appearing in media over a thousand times to take on people who are putting on conspiratorial theories and to devour them of their false impressions and to talk to them about the truth. That is something that I will always continue to fight for. Senator. Senator Graham, thank you. We'll eventually talk about the FBI. That's the job you're up here for, right? Have you ever been subject to Tulsi or Bobby as an individual? And condolences to those who were killed in last night's horrific crash. Senator Warner, Senator Moran, our condolences and prayers are with you and all of your constituents. Again, Chairman Cotton and Vice Chairman Warner and all of the members of the committee. It's an honor to be here before you today. I've appreciated the opportunity to meet with so many of you and address your questions and concerns before today's hearing. I know they've gone, but I'm grateful to Senators Burr and Ernst for their trust and their confidence in taking time to join us here today. To my husband Abraham, my family, friends, fellow veterans, Medal of Honor recipients and patriots, thank you for your love and support. I'm honored and grateful to President Trump for his trust and confidence in nominating me to serve our country as the Director of National Intelligence. At a time when trust in the intelligence community unfortunately is at an all time low. Chuck Schumer admitted a few years ago, quote, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. For too long, faulty, inadequate or weaponized intelligence have led to costly failures and the undermining of our national security and God given freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. The most obvious example of one of these failures is our invasion of Iraq based upon a total fabrication or complete Failure of intelligence. This disastrous decision led to the deaths of tens of thousands of American soldiers, millions of people in the Middle east, mass migration, destabilization and undermining of the security and stability of our European allies, the rise of isis, strengthening of Al Qaeda and other Islamist jihadist groups, and strengthening Iran. Here are just a few other examples. The American people elected Donald Trump as their president not once but twice. And yet the FBI and intelligence agencies were politicized by his opponents to undermine his presidency and falsely portray him as a puppet of Putin. Title one of FISA was used illegally to obtain a warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page using a Clinton campaign funded false dossier as their so called evidence. Biden campaign adviser Tony Blinken was the impetus for the 51 former senior intelligence officials letter dismissing Hunter Biden's laptop as disinformation specifically to help Biden win the election. Former DNI James Clapper lied to this committee in 2013, denying the existence of programs that facilitated the mass collection of millions of Americans phone and Internet records, yet was never held accountable. Under John Brennan's leadership, the CIA abused its power to spy on Congress to dodge oversight, lied about doing it until he was caught, and yet has never been held responsible. Under Biden, the FBI abused its power for political reasons to try to surveil Catholics who attend traditional Latin Mass, labeling them as quote unquote radical traditionalist Catholics. Personally, just 24 hours after I criticized Kamala Harris and her nomination, I was placed on a secret domestic terror watch list called Quiet Skies. Sadly, there are more examples. The bottom line is this, this must end. President Trump's reelection is a clear mandate from the American people to break this cycle of failure, end the weaponization and politicization of the intelligence community and begin to restore trust in those who've been charged with the critical task of securing our nation. If confirmed as dni, I will do my very best to fulfill this mandate and bring leadership to the intelligence community with a laser like focus on our essential mission ensuring the safety, security and freedom of the American people. As the President's principal intelligence advisor, I'll begin with by leading by example, checking my own personal views at the door and committing to delivering intelligence that is collected, analyzed and reported without bias, prejudice or political influence. I enlisted in the army because of the horrific terrorist attack on September 11th and volunteered to deploy to Iraq in 2005 where I served in a medical unit. After nearly 22 years in uniform with three combat deployments to the Middle east and Africa, I'm now a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve, where I serve as a battalion commander of soldiers in Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas. I served in Congress for eight years on the Homeland Security, Foreign affairs and Armed Services Committees. It's my experience in the military and in the halls of Congress that have given me a deep understanding of the complex challenges that our nation faces in both roles, engaging with world leaders in both roles, being privy to highly classified intelligence. So I know firsthand how essential, accurate, unbiased and timely intelligence is to the President, to Congress, and to our war fighters. I also know the heavy cost of intelligence failures and abuses. Senator Collins, you led the creation of ODNI specifically to address those intelligence failures. Well, we're going to go to Bobby Kennedy Short, Quigley. But why did you apologize to her then? I apologized for something else that. Well, that's not my understanding. Are there. Let me just ask. All you have to read is the text which she published is not for that. That is not how I've read it. Are there any other instances where you have made sexual advances towards an individual without their consent? Just yes OR no. No. Mr. Kennedy, you said that you're going to say to NIH scientists, God bless you all. Thank you for your public service. We're going to give infectious disease a break for eight years. Excuse me? You said. You just said thank you for your service to our federal employees. You want to give infectious disease a break. That's a quote. Will you support the development and distribution of vaccines for the avian flu? Yes or no? Will I? For the avian flu? Yes. My time's almost up. But having read a lot and listened a lot, I just want to remind all my colleagues that by voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy, we would be telling our constituents he's worth listening to. That alone could get people killed before he even lifts a finger. Because he does not even need the levers of power to influence people. As we saw in Samoa. All he needs is a megaphone to affirm his views by voting to confirm him as our highest health official. We should not mince words about what that would mean. When babies die from whooping cough because parents weren't sure if the vaccine was safe, we will have to look them in the eye when measles sweeps through school, then hospitals, nursing wards. Will this be worth it? There are political realities. We all get that. But there's also right and wrong, fact and fiction. And there's also people staying healthy or dying pointlessly from diseases we can prevent because they thought Congress took its job vetting our health care. Secretary, seriously. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're going to now go out of order. We're going to go to Senator Marshall. He would like to be able to view the press conference regarding the tragedy on the plane from Wichita. Senator Marshall. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you. Okay, we're going to go back to. Let's go back to Tulsi. Let's go to Tulsi Gabbard. Back to Tulsi Gabbard. As you see, we're juggling a lot of balls here, trying to get the most intense moments and my love for our country. Those who oppose my nomination imply that I am loyal to something or someone other than God, my own conscience and the Constitution of the United States. Accusing me of being Trump's puppet, Putin's puppet, Assad's puppet, a guru's puppet, Modi's puppet. Not recognizing the absurdity of simultaneously being the puppet of five different puppet masters. The same tactic was used against President Trump and failed. The American people elected President Trump with a decisive victory and mandate for change. Let's go. The fact that we're going back to Cash Patel, it's getting grilled. Proven themselves willing to do violence on Trump's call in only 10 days. Some are already back committing crimes. We've also tried as a committee together to address the dangers of illicit drug sales over the Internet. And I assume we're all against murder for hire. But Trump also just pardoned a dark web operator sentenced to life in prison for trafficking illegal drugs online and accused of soliciting murders for hire. Those pardons, as Mr. Patel has said, are a mistake, but they are also a signal that we are entering a strange and dangerous time. That is the context for today's hearing. Warnings that the FBI could become Trump's enforcer, use the powers of law enforcement to stifle speech and dissent, punish political rivals of either party and hand out free passes, get out of jail free cards to violent supporters are warnings we should heed. Here are some warnings of this nominee's Trump administration colleagues. Former Attorney General Bill Barr said this nominee has virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world's preeminent law enforcement agency, end quote. And we would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day to day operations of the bureau. That's for the deputy position. Former CIA Director Gina Haspel was reported threatening to resign rather than have this nominee serve under her. John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, said, I didn't think he was qualified. I was forced to hire him. Trump's deputy national security advisor, the nominee's former supervisor, said his ideas are ludicrous. He's absolutely unqualified for this job. He's untrustworthy, and it's an absolute disgrace to even consider an individual of this nature. That's from Republican appointees who worked with him. And here's what this nominee himself has said about using his office to prosecute. We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. We're going to come after you whether it's criminally or civilly. Is that a correct quotation, Mr. Patel? Senator, that's a partial quotation, but it's correct in part. Regarding his publication of his enemies list, Mr. Patel proclaimed the manhunt starts tomorrow and reposted a video depicting him taking a chainsaw to his political enemies. Is that you, Kash Patel retruthed. Reposting that at the top of that page. Senator, I had nothing to do with the creation of that. Is that you reposting? It was my question, and that's me at the top. You said FBI agents were responsible for the violence on January 6th, and I quote you here beyond a reasonable doubt. Is that what you said? That's completely incorrect, and I appreciate the opportunity to address that. I'll give you opportunity in writing, but this is my time now. Have at it. An inspector Attorney General investigation found that that was false. And you said we should impeach judges who rule against Donald Trump, who are, in your words, political terrorists. When this nominee tries to explain all this away, keep one thing in mind. 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