At Pam Bondi's attorney general confirmation hearing, focus moved to FBI nominee Kash Patel

Democratic senators are gearing up to fight against President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI – at least if their questions at the confirmation hearing for attorney general pick Pam Bondi are any signal.

Multiple Democrats who appeared open to supporting Bondi's confirmation took the opportunity to voice alarm about the prospect of Patel heading the intelligence bureau. The bureau is an agency within the Justice Department, which is led by the attorney general. Patel's Senate confirmation hearing hasn't yet been scheduled.

A former federal prosecutor and Republican congressional staffer, Patel has previously stated that as FBI director he would "shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum to the deep state." In a Truth Social post, Trump has described Patel's 2023 book, "Government Gangsters" as "the roadmap to end the Deep State's Reign."

Patel has drawn concern even from some fellow Republicans in the past. Bill Barr, an attorney general during Trump's first term, wrote in his memoir that, when Trump considered naming Patel FBI deputy director, Barr told White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows it would happen "over my dead body."

Still, the criticism of Patel at Wednesday's hearing came from Democrats.

In a statement to USA TODAY, Trump Transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said, "Kash Patel thinks the FBI's intelligence component serves an important purpose and wants to ensure that it is doing its job properly."

Here's what the Senate Democrats had to say:

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said she has "serious concerns" about the prospect of Patel helming the FBI. She noted that Patel has described the FBI's "intel shops" as its "biggest problem," and said he wants to "break that component out" of the bureau.

Klobuchar defended the importance of the bureau's intelligence division, saying it is "responsible for protecting us from foreign adversaries like China."

Bondi said she would review Patel's comments and that both she and Patel would, if confirmed, "ensure that all laws are followed."

That didn't appear to satisfy Klobuchar.

"While I agree you would be the boss of Kash Patel, I'm not sure that you would be able to intervene with every decision or position that he had, or know what he's doing," she said.

Later in the hearing, Klobuchar noted that Trump is suing a pollster in Iowa over results published days before the Nov. 5 election suggesting Biden would perform much better in the state than he ultimately did, and that Patel has attacked members of the media.

According to the Hill, Patel said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast in 2023, "We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections."

Numerous recounts and audits have shown Biden won the 2020 election, despite Trump's continued denial of that reality.

Klobuchar asked Bondi what she would do if Trump or the FBI head chose to “go after the media.”

“Clearly he’s made some statements, but I have not talked to Mr. Patel about this,” Bondi said. “Going after the media just because they’re the media is wrong, of course.”

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut also questioned Patel's fitness to run the FBI, noting comments from Patel about the 2020 election and about wanting to target the "deep state."

"Is that a person who appropriately should be the FBI director? Aren't those comments inappropriate? Shouldn't you disavow them and ask him to recant them?" Blumenthal asked, pressing Bondi for her views.

Bondi said she wasn't familiar "with all those comments," but went on to defend Patel's record as a former public defender and someone with "great experience within the intelligence community."

"He will follow the law if I am the attorney general of the United States of America, and I don't believe he would do anything otherwise," Bondi said.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., voiced his own concern about Patel, contrasting him with former FBI Director Christopher Wray, who resigned in December. Wray was appointed by Trump, but later became a Trump target. Coons said Wray did “an outstanding job” in the face of being asked to find election interference that was nonexistent.

“He is being driven out so he can be replaced – my perception, I haven’t met with Mr. Patel – by a loyalist who has publicly said he will do what the president asks him,” Coons said.

(This story was updated to add additional information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At Pam Bondi hearing, focus turns to Trump FBI pick Kash Patel