'Can't be trusted': Schiff sets social media ablaze after clashing with Kash Patel during explosive hearing
A clash on Thursday between Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Kash Patel, the nominee for FBI director, set social media ablaze when conservatives ripped into the new California senator after what they saw as a win for the Trump nominee.
Schiff, in his line of questioning at Patelβs confirmation hearing, began by asking Patel whether he stood by prior testimony that he had nothing to do with the recording of a song about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot inmates.
"[That] is interesting, because here's what you told Steve Bannon on his podcast: βSo, what we thought would be cool is if we captured that audio and then, of course, had the greatest president, President Donald J. Trump, recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we went to a studio and recorded it, mastered it, digitized it, and put it out as a song.'"
KASH PATEL ENRAGES ADAM SCHIFF IN CLINTONIAN BATTLE OVER THE WORD βWEβ AND A JANUARY 6 SONGΒ
The two quibbled over the meaning of "we" and whether it included Patel.
"Yeah, and youβre part of that βweβ β right β when you say βwe,β that includes you, Mr. Patel," Schiff said.
"Not in every instance." Patel said, adding he had not personally participated in the recording or mastering of the single.
Schiff responded, "Well, that's new. So, when you said βwe,' you didn't really mean you. Is that your testimony?"
"Not unless you have a new definition for the word βwe,'" Patel said.
In Thursdayβs hearing, however, Patel said he was using the word "we" appropriately, while Schiff said he had "promoted the hell out of it," referencing the inmatesβ single.
"I don't know what that means, but I promoted the heck out of raising money for families in need," Patel shot back.
In another exchange, Schiff asked Patel if an FBI director promoted a songΒ about people who sprayed pepper spray in the face of an FBI agent, "would you say they were fit to be director?"
"I am fit to be the director of the FBI," Patel said.
Supporters of the Trump administration hammered Schiff and praised Patel over the exchanges.
MAJOR CHANGES PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 AT FBI
"Californiaβs SenatorΒ @SenAdamSchiff screams and screeches about the January 6th choir during Kashβs confirmation - and completely misses an opportunity to represent commonsense Californians," former DNI Director Richard Grenell posted on X. "We want representatives who donβt lie. Who donβt miss the big picture. Schiff is partisan and petty."
National Review contributor Pradheep Shanker saidΒ "any committee that [Sen. Mazie] Hirono, Schiff or [Sen. Sheldon] Whitehouse is on is one where Democrats completely lose all credibility."
"I honestly thought Bernie Sanders yelling at RFK Jr. about onesies was going to be the craziest thing from the hearings this week," Daily Signal columnist Tony Kinnett said. "Then I watched Adam Schiff yelling at Kash Patel for 5 minutes about song remixes. Good Lord."
"Schiff canβt be trusted to serve on committees," Judicial Watch Chairman Tom Fitton said.
Schiff argued he had won the exchange.
"Kash Patel raised money for January 6 insurrectionists who attacked law enforcement. I asked him to look those officers in the eye and tell them he was proud of what he did. He couldn't," Schiff wrote on X.
It was one of a number of fiery exchanges during the hearing. Democrats quizzed Patel about his record, including statements he had made in his book, "Government Gangsters."
Patel slammed what he described as "grotesque" attacks against him.
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"If the best attacks on me are going to be false accusations and grotesque mischaracterizations, the only thing this body is doing is defeating the credibility of the men and women at the FBI," he said.
"I stood with them here in this country, in every theater of war we have. I was on the ground in service of this nation. And any accusations leveled against me that I would somehow put political bias before the Constitution are grotesquely unfair."