Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the second-ranking Democrat as majority whip and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, unleashed on President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the FBI.
The nomination of Kash Patel was a controversial one that could face confirmation headwinds, even in the soon-to-be Republican-controlled Senate.
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Durbin slammed the choice of Patel, who’s vowed to dismantle the “deep state.”
“We already have a FBI Director, Christopher Wray, and his term does not expire until 2027,” Durbin said in a statement. “President-elect Trump knows this, because he nominated Director Wray in 2017 after he fired the previous director, James Comey, another lifelong Republican who failed Trump’s loyalty test.”
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Durbin went on to assail Patel as an “unqualified loyalist” and urged fellow senators to reject his nomination.
“President Biden kept Director Wray in office because the FBI is supposed to be insulated from partisanship. Now, the president-elect wants to replace his own appointee with an unqualified loyalist,” the No. 2 Senate Democrat said. “The Senate should reject this unprecedented effort to weaponize the FBI for the campaign of retribution that Donald Trump has promised.”
FBI Director Christopher Wray was nominated and installed under Trump, and President Joe Biden kept him in place. But Trump has soured on Wray and the agency, instead vowing to install an “‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”
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Incoming Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), whose panel will hold a confirmation hearing for Patel, criticized Wray but said Patel “must prove” himself to senators.
“Chris Wray has failed at fundamental duties of FBI Dir,” Grassley wrote on social media. “He’s showed disdain for cong oversight & hasn’t lived up to his promises It’s time 2 chart a new course 4 TRANSPARENCY +ACCOUNTABILITY at FBI. Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform &restore public trust in FBI.”
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
