Politics

5 Key Moments from Kash Patel’s FBI Nomination Hearing — ‘Jai Shree Krishna’ Chant, QAnon Conspiracy And More

Published on: January 31, 2025 at 9:40 AM
By Moupriya
Kash Patel
Kash Patel at the Senate hearing (Image source: YouTube | @ABCNews

Kash Patel, 44, recently attended the tense and heated Senate hearing on January 30 after getting tapped as Donald Trump’s nomination for the director of the FBI. Prior to this, he served as a prosecutor for the U.S. Justice Department under the Obama administration. During Trump’s first term in office, he worked as chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Defense. He was also the senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council and the deputy director of National Intelligence.

LIVE: Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing for FBI director

Here are 5 key moments from his FBI nomination hearing on Thursday: 

1. Kash Patel was seen chanting a Hindu deity’s name and greeting his parents 

Before the hearing, Patel chanted “Jai Shri Krishna” while touching the feet of his parents. In Indian culture, it is seen as a way of paying respect to the elders and also asking for their blessings before something important.

On the other hand, the chant “Jai Shri Krishna” is a common phrase used by the followers of the Hindu god Krishna. It means “Victory to Krishna” and is considered auspicious to chant before any crucial task.

Kash thanked his parents in his opening statement, saying, “It means the world that you guys are here.” He mentioned that without their guidance and unflinching support, he wouldn’t have made it so far. Patel revealed how his father fled the “genocidal dictatorship” of Idi Amin in Uganda while his mother lived a rough life in Tanzania. He detailed how they immigrated to New York, teaching him the way of American life.

“We were raised in a household of my father’s seven siblings, their spouses, and at least half a dozen children. That’s the only way we knew how to do things at the time — the Indian way. But we would soon learn the American way,” he said.

2. Patel reveals how he was impacted by Congressional leak

In his testimony at the hearing, Kash revealed that he was subjected to racial slurs after the Congressional leak. Last month, a Department of Justice watchdog report exposed how the Feds discreetly collected phone records of 43 Congressional staff inclduing Patel. It was a part of widespread investigations into government leaks.

Kash revealed that the leak was “a direct and significant threat” to his life. He said he was subjected to racial slurs like “detestable sand n—.” He was asked to “go back where he came from,” was called a “terrorist,” and even that he had no right in America. When pressed by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham at the hearing, he said that the threat only made him more determined to serve in the U.S. law enforcement community.

3. Patel questioned about QAnon conspiracy theory

Kash was questioned about his connection to QAnon. Senator Chuck Grassley asked him about the conspiracy theory which emerged during Donald Trump’s first term in office. This theory claims that a Satan-worshipping pedophile community operates the Hollywood, the government, the media, and even the Democratic Party.

Previously, Patel has been accused of having a connection to QAnon. He was seen sharing an image of the letter Q, signing WWG1WGA on copies of his children’s book. This phrase, which means “Where we go one, we go all,” has been linked to the conspiracy theory.

During the hearing, he was asked if he was a follower of QAnon. He denied saying that he had publicly dismissed the “baseless” theories many times.

However, the claims remain as his past interviews resurface. In 2022, he told The New York Times, “Q thing is a movement a lot of people attach themselves to.” Although it wasn’t clear whether he was referring to QAnon, there has been long curiosity about his alleged involvement.

4. The”FBI museum of the deep state” comment resurfaces

During an appearance on The Shawn Ryan Show, Patel stated, “Shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state.” When confronted by Sen. Amy Klobuchar at the intense hearing, he responded, “The only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI.” He lashed out at the senator for “false accusations.” 

“Any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair,” Kash emphasized. 

5. Hearing transforms into a dramatic ‘would you rather’ game

The highlight part was definitely when Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, asked Patel to play the “would you rather” game. “Let’s have at it, sir, ” Kash chuckled along with the audience. He was first asked, “Would you rather the FBI prosecute and persecute parents who voice legitimate concerns at school board meetings, or should it investigate domestic terrorists who commit school shootings and threaten the lives of American children?” 

Without any hesitation, Patel chose the second, stating that he had already focused on this task in the Obama Justice Department. For the next question, Schmitt asked, “Would you rather the FBI be weaponized by investigating presidential candidates, political opponents, spying on and wire-tapping candidates’ advisors, or should the FBI get back to its core mission and get politics out of the FBI?”

The director nominee stated, “There should be no politics in the FBI,” adding that he had been a victim of weaponization of law enforcement himself. For the last “would you rather” game question, Patel was asked, “Would you rather target traditional Catholics as extremists, or should the FBI focus on investigating actual threats posed to American people by cartels pumping fentanyl into our communities through the southern border?”

Kash Patel chose the second here, too, saying, “One hundred thousand deaths due to fentanyl and drug overdoses in one year,” so he would rather focus on saving them.

The hearing on Thursday got way too intense and dramatic at times. 

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