Kash Patel to face Senate warmth over FBI departures, journey and Trump-era probes

WASHINGTON (TNND) — FBI Director Kash Patel will seem earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning for an oversight listening to, his first look earlier than Congress since clashing with lawmakers in May over allegations about his consuming, journey and administration of the bureau.

That trade adopted a report by The Atlantic that accused Patel of getting “bouts of excessive drinking” and job-performance points. Patel later filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit towards the journal, which stands by its reporting and has referred to as the case meritless.

Ahead of the listening to, Senate Judiciary Committee rating member Dick Durbin mentioned in a press release obtained by CBS News that Patel can be held accountable for his “failed leadership.”

Democrats are anticipated to query Patel about FBI staffing changes, the Epstein recordsdata, investigations into Trump’s political foes and his use of FBI resources.

The FBI misplaced 1,139 particular brokers in 2025, in line with a Justice Connection evaluation of federal personnel information. That determine contains departures broadly, together with resignations and retirements, fairly than firings alone.

Patel has additionally confronted congressional scrutiny over government-aircraft journey. He drew consideration after flying on a Justice Department jet to Italy for the Winter Olympics, the place he celebrated with the U.S. men’s hockey team after its gold-medal win. The FBI has defended the travel, saying the director is required to make use of authorities plane for safety causes and that the Italy journey was work-related.

Patel is predicted to focus on FBI crime statistics. The bureau announced last month that the nation’s homicide charge reached a 20-year low in 2025, falling 18.1%.

At a Long Island event asserting the report, President Donald Trump referred to as the outcomes “the best numbers anybody’s ever seen on crime.”