From PBS NewsHour.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made his opening statement Thursday in the confirmation hearing for Kash Patel to be President Donald Trump’s FBI director.

"Your reputation leading up to and during this hearing I think proves that you’re a person that can stand a lot of heat, including a president’s telling you how to do your job," Grassley told Patel. "if confirmed, you’ll be in charge of one of the world’s best law enforcement agencies at the time when it desperately needs strong changes."

A loyal Trump supporter, Patel is a former public defender turned Justice Department prosecutor. He served in Trump’s first term as chief of staff to acting defense secretary Christopher Miller. In interviews, he has said he wants to reduce the size of the national intelligence community, and shut down the FBI’s headquarters in Washington. He’s also repeated the false narrative that Trump won the 2020 election.

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