BREAKING: Kash Patel accused of committing FEDERAL CRIME

Do you agree, Director Patel, that if. one of your agents was unable to perform. his or her duties because of excessive. drinking, you would need to take. corrective or disciplinary action? You. agree with that statement? >> We would implement the inspection review. process, just like these other agencies. have their own internal investigations, and complete that review. >> As I said in my opening remarks, I I really don't care about your. personal life, so long as you are able. to perform your public and official. responsibilities, which are awesome.

responsibilities. Multiple reports, including reporting by. The Atlantic, have alleged episodes of. excessive drinking, unexplained. absences, and behavior that concern. current and former FBI and DOJ. officials. You have publicly denied those. allegations and filed a defamation. lawsuit. So, today, as you testify. before Congress, is it your testimony. that those allegations are categorically. false? >> Unequivocally categorically false. >> So, there have been no occasions during.

your tenure when FBI personnel were. unable to promptly reach you. >> Absolutely not. You can ask my entire. workforce. They hear from me at every. single hour of the day, as do these. great gentlemen here, as do the men and. women of the interagency, and state and. local law enforcement, and the White. House. >> And so, there have been no occasions. when your security detail had difficulty. waking or locating you. Is that right? >> Nope, it's a total farce. I don't even. know where you get this stuff, but it. doesn't make it credible because you say. so. >> I'm not saying it, uh, Director Patel. I. I It's been written and documented I. >> You are literally saying it.

>> No, I'm saying that these are reports, uh, Director Patel. And. >> No, unlike unlike your baseless reports, the only person that was slinging. margaritas in El Salvador on the. taxpayer dollar with a convicted. gang-banging rapist was you. >> You know, the fact. >> person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in. Washington, D.C. at the Lobby Bar. was you. >> This suggests to me that the allegations. are true. Are you. Are you polygraphing. Director Patel? come on. These are. serious allegations that were made.

against you. >> They're allegations that you filed. >> You drinking margaritas with a gang guy. and you're chewing on video. >> This just goes to show you. This just goes to show you don't know. what you're talking about. >> Director Patel, has been filed by your. own office. >> This just goes to show. >> the day. That's you. >> Mr. Chairman, I will not be tarnished by. baseless allegations. >> I will not be tarnished by baseless. allegations or fraudulent statements. from the media. >> The fact that you mentioned that. indicates you don't know what you are. talking about. >> In your response to me earlier where you.

had a little bit of a blow-up you. made a couple provably false statements. >> So did you. >> No. Mr. Mr. Director I was reading about. and asking you and asking you. to respond to allegations that are made. In fact, I was giving you an opportunity. to do that. And you took that. opportunity. But in the process you made. these provably false statements that I. know are sort of like urban legend in. right-wing media about margaritas in El.

Salvador, which is provably false. And. so. coming from the mouth of an FBI director. to make provably false statements. in a hearing like this. is extremely troubling. And it it leads. me to ask whether or not. the other things you've been saying are. false statements. And so my. And because that was that's a provably. false statement. You made a couple. others that are provably false. And this.

is from the mouth of the FBI director. >> The only one who makes false statements. is you. >> My My final question to you, Mr. Director is do you know that it is a. crime to lie to Congress? Do you know that? That's my last. question. >> I have not lied to Congress. >> I didn't ask you that. >> The only one who lied to Congress is. you. >> Do you. >> And. >> I'm not testifying here, sir, and I. don't lie. >> Maybe the next time you run up a $7,000. bar tab we can talk about it. >> Well, see, there you go. Lie again. You suggested. >> FBI report. I'll post it right now. >> You suggested it was public. It wasn't. public money, as you know. That was for.

a 50-member staff. >> Oh, so it wasn't a $7,000 bar tab. >> Mr. Mr. Patel, I'm glad Let me just say. in closing, Mr. Chairman, two things. I'm glad that you have. agreed. to take the the test regarding, you know, whether you have alcohol. problems. I'm glad you agreed with me to. do that. Um you still haven't answered my final. question. Do you know, Mr. Director, that it is a crime to lie to Congress? Do you know that? >> I do not lie to Congress.

>> I didn't ask you that. >> insinuating that I am. >> I asked you whether you know. >> to correct your time in this session. where you got steamrolled by the facts, so you can have a Twitter narrative so. you can go raise more money and spend. more money on $7,000 bar tabs. >> let the record show, Mr. Chairman. The. director, they FBI apparently does not. want to answer the question about. whether or not it's a crime to lie to. Congress, and I find that extremely. troubling. >> I find it troubling that you lied to the. American people today.

>> You You were a disgrace, Mr. Director. >> I'm nearly as big as you. >> that you can't answer that question, I. will I will That That That concludes my. questioning, Mr. Chairman, but I'm. obviously very troubled. >> That was Senator Chris Van Hollen. accusing FBI Director Kash Patel of. lying to Congress, considering he. decided to use his time under oath to. accuse the Democratic senator of. something that was patently false, namely that Van Hollen was slinging back. taxpayer-funded margaritas with Kilmar. Brega Garcia in El Salvador. Now, we know that was false because the.

El Salvadoran dictator, Bukele, purposefully set up a shot where. margaritas were expressly visible, so. that hacks like Kash Patel could point. to that propaganda as evidence of. malfeasance. But propaganda is all it. is, and frankly, I don't know which one. is worse here. That the FBI director. doesn't know that or that the FBI. director is well aware and yet is making. the conscious decision to lie to. Americans anyway. But let's take the opportunity to talk. about what it was that set Kash Patel.

off in the first place. Van Holland was. questioning him about his alleged. drinking issues which were brought to. light by a piece in The Atlantic. Now, Atlantic reporter Sara Fitzpatrick spoke. to more than two dozen people, current. and former FBI officials, intelligence. staff, political operatives, and others. who described Patel as erratic and his. behavior as {quote} a national security. vulnerability. Fitzpatrick wrote {quote}. "Several officials told me that Patel's. drinking has been a recurring source of. concern across the government. They said. that he is known to drink to the point.

of obvious intoxication in many cases at. the private club Ned's in Washington, D.C. while in the presence of White. House and other administration staff. He. is also known to drink to excess at the. Poodle Room in Las Vegas where he. frequently spends parts of his weekends. Early in his tenure, meetings and. briefings had to be rescheduled for. later in the day as a result of his. alcohol-fueled nights." Six current and. former officials and others familiar. with Patel's schedule told me. But it. gets worse. According to information. provided to Justice Department and White. House officials, members of Patel's. security detail had trouble waking him.

up on multiple occasions because he was. {quote} "seemingly intoxicated." He was. so hard to reach behind locked doors. that his team even requested breach. equipment commonly used by SWAT teams. for rapid forced entry into buildings. And then there's this detail which. serves as the article's opening. anecdote. Patel was locked out of an. internal computer system at the FBI on. April 10th which convinced the FBI. director that he had been fired by the. White House and prompted him to call. aids and allies in a panic. Now, he. wasn't fired, he just couldn't log in,

but that's the level of paranoia and. instability that we're dealing with. here. The Atlantic reported that Patel. himself {quote} "has expressed that he. believes he is about to be fired or that. it is imminent." And that there are. senior administration officials who are. openly discussing who will be the next. FBI director. While the latest Jeffrey. Epstein documents have exposed. corruption at the highest levels of. American society, there is an eerie. pattern forming. Aggressive enforcement. overseas, but silence at home. Where are. the arrests? Where are the indictments. in the United States? When you look at. how legacy media is covering this, it's.

not hard to see why. We can't even agree. on what's happened, and that's why. nothing gets done. And that's exactly. why I partnered with Ground News, because they are the best tool for us to. see through the partisan reporting. fracturing America. For example, when. House Dems recently released email. exchanges between Epstein and Trump, Ground News lets me see that. left-leaning outlets like News and. Record revealed Trump knew about the. trafficking and abuse. But when you look. at the right, Fox News only states that. this was a bad faith Epstein doc. released without addressing the content. of the files. Same documents, completely.

different realities. But I wouldn't have. caught this without Ground News. Ground. News doesn't pick sides. Instead, it. pulls thousands of articles from around. the world and organizes them by story, so you can see how every outlet is. framing the same event. The color-coded. layout shows each source's political. bias, lets you filter for high. factuality reporting, and tells you. whether an outlet is independently owned. or backed by a large media conglomerate. In 30 seconds, I get the full picture. instead of just some slice. In a world. where algorithms feed you what others. want you to see, Ground News helps you. cut through the narrative bias, access.

different viewpoints, and verify. information for yourself. And because. it's subscriber-funded, its loyalty is. to you, not corporate interests. Because. I believe in Ground News so much, we're. offering you 40% off the Vantage plan. that I use for my research. Just go. click the link in the description, or go. to ground.news/btc, or scan the QR code up here. It's one of. the biggest discounts they've ever. offered. If you want to support the. channel and get a clearer understanding. of the world, try out Ground News. Now, Patel was asked about this previously.

Here was his answer. >> Patel, I do want to give you an. opportunity. >> I don't want to talk. I'm sorry. >> to respond directly to the allegations. in the Atlantic article that your. unexplained absences created a national. security risk. And beyond that, can you. say definitively that you have not been. intoxicated or absent during your tenure. as FBI director? >> I can say unequivocally that I never. listen to the fake news mafia. And as. when they get louder, it just means I'm. doing my job. This FBI director has been.

on the job twice as many days as every. director before me. What that means is. I've taken half as many days off as. those before me. What that means is I've. taken a third less vacation than those. before me. What that means is that this. FBI with this Department of Justice has. dropped the murder rate 20 points. What. that means is this FBI with this. Department of Justice has captured eight. of the top 10 most wanted fugitives in. the world, twice as many as the Biden. administration did in its entire four. years. What that means is this FBI has.

seized enough fentanyl off the streets. to kill 178 million Americans, a 31%. increase. What that means is this FBI. and this DOJ has arrested 43% more spies. in 14 months in the entirety of the. Biden administration. What that means is. this FBI has seen a reduction in opioid. overdose that's up to 20%. alone. What that means is that we have. found 6,300 child victims, 6,300. families have their kids back. That is a.

22% increase from the Biden. administration. I'm on the job. I'm the. first one in, I'm the last one out. I'm. like an everyday American who loves his. country, loves his sport of hockey, and. champions my friends when they raise a. gold medal and invite me in to. celebrate. I've never been intoxicated. on the job, and that is why we filed a. $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any. one of you that wants to participate, bring it on. I'll see you in court. Now, I hope that you were listening carefully. because Kash Patel was asked, quote, "Can you say definitively that you have.

not been intoxicated or absent during. your tenure as FBI director. And he. responded by saying that he doesn't. listen to the fake news, that he's taken. fewer vacation days than his. predecessors, that the murder rate is. lower, that they've seized fentanyl, that they've arrested spies, all of. which is a lot of words to avoid. directly answering the question. Usually. when the answer to a damning question is. just no, you say no. But Kash did. eventually utter the words, quote, "I. have never been intoxicated on the job.". Now, to that, I would present this.

So, the question becomes, when he's at. the Olympics chugging back beers, was. he, quote, on the job? The FBI director. isn't exactly a 9-to-5 role. If somebody. commits a terror attack at 2:00 in the. morning on a Sunday, it doesn't matter. if Kash is technically off the clock, he.

is still the only director we have. That's the nature of the position. And. as far as intoxication is concerned, does that mean he drank any alcohol? Does he have to have consumed the legal. limit, which is 0.08, or does any amount. of alcohol suffice as intoxication? These are all questions that differ, I. presume, depending on whether you're. looking for a legal definition or using. common sense. But here's the important. part. It may not even matter, because if. this lawsuit does move forward, which it. seems like it is, The Atlantic will have.

the opportunity to take discovery to. confirm the accuracy of its reporting, which would include taking sworn. testimony, not just of Kash Patel, but. of others with knowledge of the. underlying facts, including, by the way, the two dozen people who spoke to the. outlet to form the basis of this story. In other words, by filing this lawsuit, Kash Patel is potentially opening. himself up to sworn deposition, subpoenas, and compelled testimony from. every single person who knows anything. about his behavior. That is a. significant gamble for somebody whose. entire defense here is that these.

stories are just fabricated. Now, the. reporter that he's suing, Sarah. Fitzpatrick, isn't backing down. When. confronted with the legal threats, she. said simply, "I stand by every word of. this reporting.". The Atlantic called the lawsuit. meritless and said they would vigor-. vigorously defend it. So, if Patel's. hope here is that he could just chill. them into submission, doesn't look like. that's working. So, again, we can. squabble over legal definitions of. intoxication and what it means to be on. the clock, but again, that might all be. moot if it turns out that there are.

dozens of people who are capable of. saying outright that he was intoxicated. by any definition of the term during his. tenure as FBI director. But, I want to. zoom out here because the reality is. that the Atlantic will likely have its. day in court if the judge doesn't just. toss this case out entirely, but it was. what Kash Patel did after this that's. especially telling. The Atlantic article. had dropped on a Friday night. By Sunday. morning, Kash Patel was on Fox News with. Maria Bartiromo. Not just to announce. the lawsuit, but to do something much. more calculated.

>> Let me ask you about the mission because. every time I see President Trump, he. says this repeatedly that the election. was rigged in 2020. I mean, he says it. all the time. We all know that and it's. almost getting lost because he says it. so much. You've been at the FBI now 14. months. Have you done anything about. that? And do you have anything to tell. us about that? >> Absolutely, Maria. Look, um I've been. with the president nearly since day one. on this. As I as I told you earlier, I. was the one that led the effort with. folks like Trey Gowdy, Johnny Ratcliffe, and Devin Nunes to expose the corruption.

um that tried to thwart President. Trump's first presidential election run. And we saw the FISA abuses there. And I. lived through it and the media came at. me then, too. That just shows you that. when you're over the target, you keep. pummeling the target because the media's. going to try and pummel you. We are not. going to take this and have not taken. this lying down. We did already indict. uh former Director Comey and that's. going through the judicial process, but. we also at this FBI, even though we. uncovered what we uncovered back in the. House Intel days, I had to come in here. and find rooms that they hid from the. world. I had to come in here and find.

access on our computer systems in. restricted and prohibited case files. that they purposely put in places for no. one to see and find. We have found all. this information. We are working with. our Department of Justice partners, and. I am never going to let this go because. they not only have personally attacked. the presidency of the United States and. President Trump, but they tried to. thwart our elections and rig the entire. system. And I And that is not something. that is going to um stop on That is not. something I'm going to allow on my. watch. But you just have to remember, they built this disease temple over 20.

and 30 years. We've got all the. evidence. I can announce on your show. that we've got all the information we. need. We're working with our prosecutors. at Department of Justice and our. Attorney General Todd Blanche, and we. are going to be making arrests, and it's. coming, and I promise you, it's coming. soon. >> Now, I want you to think about that for. a second here because the timing is not. subtle. Kash Patel is the director of. the FBI. His job is suddenly in. question. The Atlantic just published a. story with 20-plus sources saying he's. drunk, unreachable, erratic, and his.

response is to go on Fox News, Trump's. favorite channel, and promise mass. arrests over a 6-year-old election claim. that has been investigated, litigated, and rejected in court over 60 times. It. is the most transparent political life. preserver I have ever seen thrown in. real time. He's not announcing arrests. because there's some real case here, because it's merited or warranted. He's. announcing arrests because Donald. Trump's number one obsession is the 2020. election, and Patel is waving that. obsession around like a flare gun while.

his career is going down in flames. In. other words, when his own job is in. trouble, his gut reaction is to use our. democracy as a life preserver for. himself. After all, what's uh. sacrificing our democracy so long as. Kash Patel can save his own ass, am I. right? So look, this is what happens when you. fill one of the most powerful law. enforcement positions in the world based. on loyalty rather than competence. The. Atlantic's reporting, again sourced to. more than two dozen people, describes a. director who was drunk at a private club.

in DC and Las Vegas, who had meetings. rescheduled around hangovers, who has a. security detail that can't wake him and. potentially needed to use SWAT breach. equipment, whose leadership has resulted. in senior officials inside his own. administration openly discussing his. replacement while he's still in the job. That is not the profile of a man running. the most important law enforcement. agency in America. That is the profile. of a man who got the job because the. president wanted a loyalist, not a. director, and whose primary skill set is. not leadership, but slavish devotion to.

one man. So, if you're wondering why it feels. like so many people are incompetent, that is a feature, not a bug, of this. administration because competence was. never the goal. I mean, hell, if they. were actually competent, the last place. they would be is in this White House. But, Trump is learning in real time that. when you fill your cabinet with clowns, you shouldn't be surprised when it's run. like a circus. Before you go, I'm very excited to. announce that I've written a new book. titled The Day After: How to wield power.

in a post-Trump world. The book explores. what is, in my opinion, the single most. important theme that we're dealing with. in politics today and moving forward, power. Specifically, how Republicans. abuse it and how Democrats refuse to. wield it. This book explains how we got. here and, more importantly, how we. should finally wield power if we're. lucky enough to get it back. It is the. blueprint for progressives who want to. do far more than just restore the status. quo. Please pre-order today by following. the link on this screen. You can grab. yours from any of the major retailers. like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or. scroll down on the page and get a copy.

from an independent bookstore closest to. you. Thanks so much for supporting. independent media.