Il Nuovo Postiglione - FBI chief spars with Democrats in heated Senate hearing

Patel also defended his handling of two high-profile cases: last week's murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the probe into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Patel of inflicting "untold damage on the FBI" and putting national security and public safety at risk with an "unprecedented purge of FBI officials."

Democratic Senator Cory Booker said the mass firings of FBI agents who worked on past criminal cases brought against Trump had "made our country weaker and less safe" and predicted the FBI chief is "not going to be around long."

"As much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald Trump -- and not the Constitution of the United States of America -- Donald Trump has shown us... he is not loyal to people like you. He will cut you loose," Booker said.

Pressed by Democratic Senator Adam Schiff as to whether any FBI agents had been fired in political retribution, Patel erupted, calling the California lawmaker the "biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate" and a "political buffoon."

"I do not have an enemies list," Patel said. "The only actions we take, generally speaking, for personnel at the FBI are ones based on merit and qualification and your ability to uphold your constitutional duty. You fall short, you don't work there anymore."

Patel has been lambasted from both the right and the left since being named by Trump to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the nation's premier law enforcement agency.

According to Fox News, Patel's relationship with Attorney General Pam Bondi is particularly strained, although he continues to enjoy the confidence of the White House.

Patel has been criticized in particular for his actions in the aftermath of the assassination of Kirk during a speaking event at a Utah university.

The FBI chief announced the arrest of a suspect a few hours after the shooting, only to turn around two hours later and say that individual had been released and the manhunt was continuing.

Tyler Robinson, the actual suspected assailant, was formally charged in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday with the murder of Kirk, founder of the influential conservative youth political group Turning Point USA.

- 'No credible information' -

Patel was also asked by both Republican and Democratic senators about Epstein, the convicted sex offender whose case has become a political lightning rod for the Trump administration.

Patel said there is no "credible information" in the law enforcement files he has seen that Epstein trafficked young women to other individuals.

"There is no credible information, none," Patel said. "If there were I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals."

Some of Donald Trump's fiercest supporters have tracked the Epstein case for years, believing "deep state" elites have been protecting Epstein associates in the Democratic Party and Hollywood.

Patel angered many Trump loyalists with a memo in July that effectively closed the investigation into Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for trafficking of underage girls.

Since taking office, Trump has taken a number of punitive measures against his perceived enemies, purging government officials deemed to be disloyal, targeting law firms involved in past cases against him, and pulling federal funding from universities.

Three former senior FBI officials filed a lawsuit against Patel last week over their firing, claiming they were victims of a "campaign of retribution" over a perceived "failure to demonstrate sufficient political loyalty."

Patel is to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.

M.Dodaro--INP