South Carolina GOP Rep. Lindsey Graham said he’s “ready” to vote to confirm Kash Patel as the next FBI director.
During an interview on CBS, Graham praised Patel and said he believes the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate will confirm him.
Host Margaret Brennan began the segment by asking, “Let me ask you about the Senate, though, because you are on the Judiciary Committee. Kash Patel, the pick to run the FBI, doesn’t even have a hearing scheduled yet. In his 2022 memoire, Bill Barr said of Kash Patel, ‘he’s someone with no background as an agent, would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day—to—day operations of the bureau. He has virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. The idea of moving him into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality.’ Was Attorney General Barr wrong then and wrong now?”
“Yes, I disagree with that. Yes, he was wrong then and he’s wrong now. And I take my advice on Kash Patel from Trey Gowdy, dear friend from South Carolina, who worked with Kash. Kash was a public defender. He was a prosecutor. He worked with Trey Gowdy about the Russia hoax. So, I do think he has the experience. He has the trust of the president. And we’ll see how this plays out. But Trey Gowdy is enthusiastically supporting Kash Patel, and that means a lot to me,” Graham responded.
“Well — well, OK. But he’s got a list he’s published, Kash Patel has. He published it in a book of — of enemies. It includes people like the FBI director, Defense Secretary Austin, Bill Barr, former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, former CIA Director Gina Haskell, the head of CENTCOM,” Brennan said.
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
Graham: “Well, we’re going to — well — yes.”
BRENNAN: “I mean, do you take him at his word here that — that these are an enemies list and you’re going to put him in a law enforcement role to go after him?”
Graham: “I — I believe the hearing will expose him to be a very qualified man of the law. He wrote a book. He’ll have to answer questions about what’s in the book. But I’m ready to vote for him because I know him, too. See, he never asked me about the Russia hoax that he exposed. People on the right believe that he was part of the solution, not the problem. You asked a good question of Brett, has Israel suffered because of this war, they went too far, on the world stage? Here’s what’s happened on the world stage. The International Criminal Court is going to be sanctioned by the Congress —”
BRENNAN: “Well, that’s a —”
Graham: “Republicans and Democrats, because they’re trying to prosecute the prime minister, defense minister of Israel.”
BRENNAN: “Lindsey, this a — Lindsey Graham, this is a far cry from the question about Kash Patel. You took me all the way to Israel from Kash Patel.”
Graham: “Yes, well, let’s get back to Kash Patel.”
BRENNAN: “Are you — you’re committing to vote for him no matter what?”
Graham: Yes, we’re not — I won’t say no matter what, but I —”
BRENNAN: “You are going to vote for Kash Patel?”
Graham: “Yes, I am ready to vote for Kash Patel because you will never ask me —”
BRENNAN: “OK.”
Graham: “The role he played in exposing the darkest moment of the FBI since Edgar — J. Edgar Hoover. That’s why I trust him.”
