A photo revealed opposition research notes that FBI Director Kash Patel prepared for his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Reuters photographer Evan Vucci snapped a close-up of the color-coded talking points in Patel's hands during the Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the FBI. The Tuesday morning hearing marked his first appearance before Congress since May.
The close-up revealed what Patel had written about Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the committee's ranking member. Patel's notes said, "Durbin info" at the top, and under that, he had points like, "wealth has increased 364% since 1997 (took office in 1983)," with "364%" in red, "fined by FEC for late disclosures," "wife has lobbying conflicts," and "total of ten federal grants announced by Durbin went to his wife's clients," with "ten" in red.
Critics took the opportunity to pile on as Patel tried to wriggle away from oversight of his agency.
"Yes. The director of the FBI is building oppo on Democrats to counter basic oversight of his job," Missouri congressional candidate Fred Wellman wrote in a post on X. "Can't wait to subpoena those next year."
"@SenatorDurbin is one of the good guys in Congress, and @FBIDirectorKash is afraid of him," blasted author and scholar Raymond Baker. "Check out Kash's notes he brought with him to the Senate congressional hearing today. What a ninny."
Chicago-based freelance journalist Matt Lindner pointed out that Patel had misspelled the city of Naperville as "Napierville" in his points about Durbin's wife's supposed lobbying conflicts.
"I know this isn't the point but 'City of Napierville' is making me laugh," Lindner wrote.
"It's just one more thing among the dozens, but the expectation that cabinet secretaries are there to perform a show for Trump rather than offer any insights about their actual work is now just de rigueur," commented Politico senior congressional correspondent Jonathan Martin. "Of course there was always contention at these hearings with the opposition party. But they have become indistinguishable, down to the talking points, from a cable TV food fight."