FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 15, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
FBI Director Kash Patel urged Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to end a Senate oversight hearing rather than answer questions from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Patel made the request Tuesday at the Senate Judiciary Committee's oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, his second annual appearance before the panel, Grassley said in his opening statement.
Grassley, who chairs the committee, turned him down. The questioning went on for several more minutes.
Schiff had spent several minutes trying to revive a question that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) put to Patel earlier in the hearing about a reporter who had written about the possible misuse of an FBI SWAT team.
"It didn't happen. Total lie," Patel said, cutting in before Schiff could finish the question.
"You asked me a lie, so I'm not gonna answer it," Patel told him when he tried again.
"Mr. Chairman, we're gonna have to extend time the more he does this," Schiff told Grassley.
"We don't have to extend anything," Patel shot back.
"Could I ask both of you?" Grassley said, before Patel spoke over the chairman's attempt to referee the exchange.
"His colleagues have called me a thug, a liar, baselessly attacked my loved ones, continuing to jeopardize the safety of me and mine, all the while to advance their political narrative," Patel told the chairman.
"I would appreciate it if you concluded this hearing, because this guy has no interest in oversight," he added.
"I can't," Grassley replied.
"You ask your question, and then when he's done, you will have time to respond," Grassley told Schiff.
"Okay. His time's up," Patel said.
Patel had assigned an FBI SWAT team to escort his girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, The New York Times reported in February. Bureau agents later sought to investigate the reporter who wrote that story, Elizabeth Williamson, until Justice Department officials shut the inquiry down, according to CNN.
"Did you or did you not, or did anyone else at the FBI, query a federal database regarding the New York Times reporter who wrote that story?" Schiff asked.
"I did not. Not to my knowledge," Patel answered, gathering up his documents at the witness table as though he were preparing to leave.
Schiff then turned to an April article in The Atlantic by staff writer Sarah Fitzpatrick, which reported that Patel was frequently absent from the bureau and that colleagues were alarmed by his drinking, the Associated Press reported at the time.
"Total lie, which is why I'm suing," Patel said. "Mr. Chairman, I'm suing for $1 billion."
That April lawsuit sought $250 million from the magazine and from Fitzpatrick, the AP reported.
"He's out of time. Are we done?" Patel asked the chairman.
Schiff eventually finished the question, asking whether any FBI resources had been used to look into Fitzpatrick after her article ran. Patel answered, "No."
Grassley then gave Patel the floor to answer back. Patel said his predecessors as director took an average of 33 days off a year, that he had taken four days off in 2026, and that their use of Reagan National Airport for takeoffs and landings had cost taxpayers $3.5 million.