Woman builds retreat for pardoned Jan. 6 offenders

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, Kash Patel, downplayed his past promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Trump’s opponents on Thursday at his combative Senate confirmation hearing.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to pin down Patel over past comments praising the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, his public courtship of influencers in the QAnon conspiracy movement and his promise to go after current and former Justice Department and FBI officials that he once put on a list of “corrupt actors.”

So far, no Republicans have publicly stated their opposition to Patel’s nomination, and none raised concerns at the hearing. Democratic senators grilled Patel throughout the day, but he claimed they were cherry-picking excerpts of old comments to make him look bad.

The role of FBI director is supposed to be a 10-year term, to insulate the position from politics. After winning in November, Trump made clear that he’d fire FBI chief Chris Wray, so Wray resigned. As a result, Patel is now on a clear path to leading the FBI very soon.

Here’s what to know about Thursday’s hearing:

There is no ‘enemies list,’ Patel says

Retribution was the overarching theme of the day.

Democrats homed in on Patel’s well-documented record – in TV interviews, podcast appearances, his books and social media posts – of calling for punishments against the people he believes are part of the “deep state” that has attempted to undermine Trump.

They raised concerns about what they called an “enemies list,” from Patel’s 2023 book, “Government Gangsters.” CNN reported that some of the 60 officials on that list are taking drastic steps to protect their families, fearing that Patel will weaponize his FBI powers.

“I have no interest, no desire, and will not, If confirmed, go backwards,” Patel said. “There will be no politicization at the FBI. There will be no retributive actions taken by any FBI.”

Patel later said, “it’s not an enemies list – that is a total mischaracterization.”

Before the hearing, some advisers had encouraged Patel to express regret for his comments about the people on his list. He didn’t take that path during the hearing.

And during the hearing, CNN reported that some senior FBI leaders who were promoted by Wray were demoted or reassigned, feeding the fears of internal recriminations. Patel said during Thursday’s hearing that he wasn’t aware of any plans to punish FBI agents involved in the various Trump probes and that “no one will be terminated for case assignments.”

GOP wants Patel to ‘teach’ FBI a lesson

Despite Patel saying he didn’t want to look backwards, Republican lawmakers encouraged him to do just that. They brought up gripes about the 2016 Trump-Russia probe, the Hunter Biden investigation and other actions they believe were motivated by anti-Trump bias.

In his opening statement, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the GOP chair of the Judiciary committee, said he believed that Justice Department and FBI leaders who previously investigated Trump “have yet to learn a lesson and I hope you’ll learn that lesson for them – or teach that lesson.”

Later in the hearing, GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Patel, “Do you believe in the adage that two wrongs don’t make a right – but they do make it even?”

“Senator, I think if anyone commits a wrong in government service, the American public deserve to know every absolute detail of that corrupt activity,” Patel responded.

These lines of inquiry that Republicans want Patel to pursue will very likely tee up a clash between Patel at the FBI and other US intelligence agencies, who were also involved in the Russia probe. Patel and these agencies have tangled over this and other topics for years.

Break from Trump on January 6 clemency

Under questioning from Democrats, Patel said he opposes Trump’s commutations that freed from prison hundreds of convicted January 6 rioters who attacked police officers.

“I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual who committed violence against law enforcement,” he said, breaking from Trump.

On Trump’s first day in office, he pardoned more than 1,200 convicted rioters and granted commutations to 14 convicts tied to far-right extremist groups. These clemency actions freed hundreds of violent rioters from prison, including many who assaulted police.

“As for January 6, I have repeatedly, often, publicly and privately, said there can never be a tolerance for violence against law enforcement,” Patel told lawmakers.

But Democrats argued that his comments were disingenuous, because he helped raise money for January 6 defendants, including some accused of and convicted of violent felony crimes, like beating and pepper-spraying members of the US Capitol Police.

On the topic of January 6, there was a combative exchange between Patel and California Sen. Adam Schiff – who have been at a loggerheads for nearly a decade, dating back to both of their service on the House Intelligence Committee during Trump’s first term.

Schiff dared Patel to stand up and apologize to the US Capitol Police officers “guarding you today.” Patel declined and retorted, “how about you ask them if I have their backs?”

Patel says QAnon is ‘baseless’

Patel rebutted Democratic allegations that he was a “conspiracy theorist” by saying he believes QAnon “baseless,” despite his past praise for the movement that promotes the false notion that top Democrats are at the helm of an international pedophilia cabal.

“I have publicly, including in the interviews provided to this committee, rejected outright QAnon baseless conspiracy theories … They must be addressed head-on with the truth and I will continue to do that,” Patel said.

The QAnon conspiracy theory emerged during Trump’s first term. Adherents claim Trump was divinely selected to destroy a “deep state” network of Democratic politicians, corrupt government officials, and celebrities who worship Satan and sexually abuse children.

Patel’s direct repudiation of QAnon was a very different approach compared to his past.

He previously courted parts of the QAnon community. On a pro-Trump podcast in 2022, Patel said, “The Q thing is a movement. A lot of people attach themselves to it. I disagree with a lot of what that movement says, but I agree with what a lot of that movement says.”

CNN has previously reported that some members of the QAnon community, including prolific right-wing influencers and podcasters, are excited about Patel’s FBI nomination.

He also complained that Democrats were misquoting and twisting his words about QAnon, as he did throughout the day on a variety of topics. He declined to answer many questions by repeatedly telling Democrats, “I don’t have the full quote in front of me.”

“Snippets of information are often misleading,” Patel said at one point.

He repeatedly said he’d focus his energy on other topics like fighting drug trafficking, hunting down gangs and rapists, and keeping the country safe from foreign terrorism.

CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.

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