Democratic lawmaker clashes with FBI Director Patel over investigations [View all]

Source: USA Today

May 7, 2025, 6:46 p.m. ET


WASHINGTON – FBI Director Kash Patel and Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean got into a fiery exchange over his loyalty to President Donald Trump, as she accused him of apparent perjury and being "unfit" for his post while he fired back that she was "lying" about him.

During a May 7 hearing on the FBI's budget, Dean accused Patel of helping the president weaponize the FBI and investigate his perceived enemies, including a Wisconsin judge charged with helping an undocumented immigrant.

“I am concerned that your eagerness and childlike giddiness to carry out the president’s revenge tour, you have shown yourself to be unserious,” said Dean of Pennsylvania, who served as an impeachment prosecutor against Trump in his 2021 Senate trial after his first term. “In your statements before you were sworn in and some after, you have shown yourself unfit to lead this important agency.”

Dean also accused Patel of apparent perjury for testifying during his Senate confirmation hearing that he was unfamiliar with Stew Peters, an allegedly antisemitic Holocaust denier, despite appearing on Peters' podcast eight times. “Should we worry more about your memory or your veracity?” Dean asked.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/07/fbi-kash-patel-madeleine-dean-perjury-lying/83500220007/

---

One of my sisters is in her district and my niece had participated in one of her summer programs a couple years ago. She is a "quiet" firebrand.