美国联邦调查局主任卡什·帕特尔(Kash Patel)周三在众议院司法委员会(House Judiciary Committee)出席约五个小时的听证会时，面临有关他处理杰弗里·爱泼斯坦(Jeffrey Epstein)文件的问题，与要求回答调查中未发布文件的议员发生争执。
高级成员杰米·拉斯金和帕特尔在杰弗里·爱泼斯坦文件的处理上争论不休。特朗普政府一直在处理总统支持者对其决定不公布更多与对富有的金融家和被定罪的性犯罪者爱泼斯坦的调查有关的材料的反对意见，爱泼斯坦于2019年在狱中自杀身亡。
拉斯金问为什么帕特尔没有“公布爱泼斯坦强奸和性交易年轻女性和女孩的同谋的名字。”美国联邦调查局和检察官调查了爱泼斯坦所谓的同谋——甚至在他死后。那次调查导致了2020年对爱泼斯坦的合伙人吉斯莱恩·麦克斯韦尔的起诉和随后的定罪。除此之外，检察官们还没有就他们怀疑与爱泼斯坦合谋的任何特定个人发表公开声明。
帕特尔回击拉斯金说，“我们比以前任何人都公布了更多的材料”，并补充说，美国联邦调查局已经公布了“法院允许我们的一切”
本月早些时候，众议院监督和政府改革委员会公布了成千上万条与爱泼斯坦有关的记录，由律政司提供。对委员会公布的文件进行的审查表明，这些文件包括公共法庭文件和麦克斯韦尔审判的文字记录，以前公布的爱泼斯坦飞机的飞行日志，爱泼斯坦死亡当晚已经公开的监狱通信局，以及爱泼斯坦在佛罗里达州刑事案件的其他各种公共法庭文件。
周二，委员会主席詹姆斯·科莫(James Comer)表示，委员会收到了来自爱泼斯坦遗产公司的额外文件，他表示计划在某个时候向公众公布这些文件。
拉斯金回应帕特尔说，美国联邦调查局公布的文件“与那些法院没有任何关系”，指责帕特尔违背了他在成为美国联邦调查局导演之前所做的评论联邦政府隐瞒了关于Epstein案件的信息美国联邦调查局的主管直接控制着爱泼斯坦的文件。
“你知道法律是怎么运作的吗?”帕特尔问道，随后补充道，“我不会为了满足你的好奇心而违反法律。”
拉斯金说，帕特尔的回答“都是误导。”
后来，共和党众议员托马斯·马西(Thomas Massie)提交了一份释放爱泼斯坦文件的请愿书，就美国联邦调查局导演的说法向帕特尔提出了挑战——这是他周二在参议院司法委员会(Senate Judiciary Committee)面前提出的——没有可信的信息表明爱泼斯坦向除他以外的任何人贩卖妇女。在这样做的时候，Massie注意到，据称的Epstein受害者向美国联邦调查局提供了采访，根据Massie的说法，这些采访详细叙述了对至少20名男子的指控。
Massie问他是否已经决定这些指控是不可信的，Patel在回答Massie时声称，这不是他的断言，而是来自不同政府的三位独立的美国检察官的评估。
在另一次不耐烦的交流中，民主党众议员埃里克·斯瓦尔韦尔说，他就帕特尔关于法院阻止公布文件的说法“打了电话给b -”。在被问及是否告诉司法部长帕姆·邦迪总统的名字出现在爱泼斯坦的档案中时，斯威尔反复试图让帕特尔回答“是或否”。帕特尔从来没有直接回答，整个交流以两人的大声争吵而告终。
“我将借用你的术语，把你在国会的整个职业生涯称为b --这是美国公众的耻辱，”帕特尔对斯威尔说。
当民主党众议员丹尼尔·古德曼因帕特尔没有公布“全部爱泼斯坦文件”而追责帕特尔时，帕特尔说，美国联邦调查局“在法律允许的范围内尽可能多地公布”
“你藏了爱泼斯坦的文件!你是掩盖真相的一部分，”戈德曼声称。
特朗普的名字出现在爱泼斯坦的文件中;一个名字出现在文件中并不意味着有不当行为。本月早些时候众议院监督委员会说，它获得了爱泼斯坦的“生日簿”据说里面有一封据称是特朗普在2003年爱泼斯坦50岁生日时签名的信。特朗普否认写了这封信，称其为“假的”。
帕特尔周二出现在参议院司法委员会面前时，还与民主党人进行了激烈的互动。在他露面期间，他与民主党参议员亚当·希夫和科里·布克不和，一度称这位加州参议员是“政治小丑”和“彻头彻尾的懦夫”
席夫回击道，两人互相咆哮:“你可以让一个网络巨魔成为美国联邦调查局导演，但(他)永远只是一个网络巨魔。”
在与布克的一场唇枪舌剑的比赛中，这位新泽西州参议员说，帕特尔正在让这个国家变得“更弱、更不安全”。
帕特尔反驳说，布克的评论“没有让这个国家团结起来。”
查理·柯克枪击案调查
帕特尔为他领导该机构的工作进行了辩护，并吹捧上周枪杀保守派活动家和有影响力的查理·柯克的嫌疑人被迅速逮捕。
帕特尔在开幕词中强调了他在领导美国联邦调查局的头几个月所做的工作，包括发布柯克案件嫌疑人的照片，他说这“导致了他的被捕”
“因为美国联邦调查局在我的指导下发布的视频，因为他们发布的照片，他们确定了他们的儿子，”帕特尔说逮捕22岁的泰勒·罗宾逊上周杀害柯克的枪手。
帕特尔的评论是在他面临关于柯克遇刺的问题后发表的，当时他周二出现在参议院司法委员会面前.
周二，他说美国联邦调查局正在调查在线消息平台Discord之后是否还有其他人参与其中。据报道，在枪击事件发生之前，22岁的嫌犯泰勒·罗宾逊(Tyler Robinson)在平台上向一小群朋友发布了消息，据称这些消息说，“嘿，伙计们，我有一个坏消息要告诉你们……昨天在UVU的是我。我对这一切感到抱歉。”
“目前有一些人正在接受调查和审讯，还有一些人尚未接受调查和审讯，具体到那个聊天室。因此，我们正在进行调查，”帕特尔说，并补充说，其他人可能参与其中。
对柯克死因的调查仍在进行中。星期二，罗宾逊被被控多项罪名，包括严重谋杀。没有其他人被指控谋杀。
FBI Director Kash Patel clashes with House lawmakers over Epstein files
FBI Director Kash Patel faced questions about his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files when he appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for a roughly five-hour hearing Wednesday -- sparring with lawmakers calling for answers about unreleased documents in the investigation.
Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and Patel argued over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Trump administration has been dealing with blowback it received from the president's supporters for its decision to not release more materials related to the investigation into Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender who died by suicide in jail in 2019.
Raskin asked why Patel hadn't "released the names of Epstein's co-conspirators in the rape and sex trafficking of young women and girls." The FBI and prosecutors investigated Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators -- even after his death. That investigation resulted in the 2020 indictment and subsequent conviction of Epstein’s associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. Prosecutors otherwise have not made public statements about any particular individual they suspect of conspiring with Epstein.
Patel fired back at Raskin that "we have released more material than anyone else before," adding that the FBI has released "everything the court has allowed us."
Earlier this month the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform releasedtens of thousands of records related to Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice. A review of the documents released by the committee indicates they consist of public court filings and transcripts from Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein's plane, already public Bureau of Prisons communications the night of Epstein’s death and various other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida.
On Tuesday, the committee's Chairman James Comer said it received additional documents from the Epstein estate, which he said it plans to release to the public at some point.
Raskin responded to Patel, saying that the FBI's release of documents has "nothing to do with what those courts have," accusing Patel of going against comments he made before becoming FBI director where he suggestedthat the federal government was shielding information regarding the Epstein caseand that the FBI director has direct control of the Epstein files.
"Do you know how the law works?" Patel asked, later adding "I'm not going to break the law to satisfy your curiosity."
Raskin said Patel's answers were "all misdirection."
Later, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who filed a discharge petition for the release of the Epstein files, challenged Patel on the FBI director's claim -- which he made before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday -- that there is no credible information that Epstein trafficked women to anyone other than himself. In doing so, Massie noted that alleged victims of Epstein have provided interviews to the FBI which detail allegations, according to Massie, against at least 20 men.
Patel claimed in response to Massie -- who asked if he had decided that these allegations that were not credible -- that it wasn't his assertion, but it was the assessment of three separate U.S. Attorneys from separate administrations.
In another testy exchange, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell said he "called b-------" on Patel's claims about courts preventing the release of documents. Swalwell also repeatedly tried to get Patel to answer "yes or no" to a question about whether he told Attorney General Pam Bondi that the president's name appeared in the Epstein files. Patel never answered directly and the whole exchange ended up in a shouting match between the two.
"I'm going to borrow your terminology and call b------- on your entire career in Congress, which is a disgrace to the American public," Patel said to Swalwell.
When Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman went after Patel for not releasing the "full Epstein files," Patel said the FBI is "releasing as much as legally allowed."
"You are hiding the Epstein files! You are part of the cover up," Goldman claimed.
Trump's nameappears in the Epstein files; a name appearing in the files is not an indication of wrongdoing. Earlier this month, theHouse Oversight Committee said it obtained Epstein's "birthday book,"which is said to contain the letter that Trump allegedly signed for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003. Trump has denied writing the letter -- calling it "fake."
Patel's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday was also marked by explosive interactions with Democrats. During his appearance, he feuded with Democratic Sens. Adam Schiff and Cory Booker -- at one point calling the California senator a "political buffoon" and an "utter coward."
Schiff hit back as the two yelled over each other: "You can make an internet troll the FBI director, but [he] will always be nothing more than an internet troll."
In a shouting match with Booker, the New Jersey senator said that Patel was making the country "weaker and less safe."
Patel fired back that Booker's comments do "not bring this country together."
Charlie Kirk shooting investigation
Patel defended his work leading the agency and touting the quick arrest of the suspect in the shooting of conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk last week.
Patel used his opening statement to highlight the work he has done in his first few months leading the FBI -- including putting out pictures of the suspect in the Kirk case, which he said "led to his apprehension."
"Because of the video that the FBI released under my direction, because of the photographs that they released, they identified their son," Patel said of the details of theapprehension of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the alleged shooter in Kirk's killing last week.
Patel's comments come after he faced questions about Kirk's assassination when heappeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, he said the FBI is investigating if others are involved after the online messaging platform, Discord confirmed reports that before the shooting the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, posted messages to a small group of friends on the platform that allegedly said, "Hey guys, I have bad news for you all … It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this."
"There are a number of individuals that are currently being investigated and interrogated, and a number yet to be investigated and interrogated, specific to that chat room. So we are very much in our ongoing posture of investigation," Patel said, adding that other people could be involved.
The investigation into Kirk's death is ongoing. On Tuesday, Robinson wascharged with a slew of offenses, including aggravated murder.No one else has been charged in the killing.
