Kash Patel calls ‘bulls**t’ on Swalwell in heated exchange over Epstein files
FBI Director Kash Patel and Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., sparred over Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case files, a topic raised repeatedly on Wednesday during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Swalwell, one of several Democrats to grill Patel over the Department of Justice’s handling of the files, demanded the director tell him about any mention of President Donald Trump in them. Patel was not receptive to Swalwell’s line of questioning, leading to a profanity-laced back-and-forth.
“Your fixation on this matter and baseless accusations that I’m hiding child pedophiles is disgusting,” Patel said.
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Swalwell zeroed in on Patel’s conversations with Attorney General Pam Bondi related to Trump after the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump, who was once friends with Epstein, was told by the DOJ that his name appeared in the files. Trump and several other high-profile figures, including former President Bill Clinton, ran in the same affluent social circle as Epstein but have never been charged over any wrongdoing.
“The attorney general and I have had numerous discussions about the entirety of the Epstein files,” Patel said.
Swalwell repeated the question several times, before enunciating each syllable.
“Why don’t you try spelling it out if you’re going to mock me. Use the alphabet.… No? A B C, D E F,” Patel shot back.
Unsatisfied, Swalwell said he would take Patel’s “evasiveness” as a “consciousness of guilt.” Swalwell also noted how the DOJ’s unsuccessful attempts to ask the courts to unseal grand jury transcripts in both Epstein’s and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell’s case were meaningless because the grand jury material contained no new non-public information and represented only a small fraction of the broader case files.
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“Director, you’ve played this cute shell game where you say you can’t release everything because the court has said that it legally is not allowed to be released, but the court calls bulls**t,” Swalwell said.
Swalwell has long stood out as a political rival of Trump’s after serving on the House Intelligence Committee and openly accusing Trump of colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 election, a claim that was never proven following multiple federal investigations. Patel was a top staffer for Republicans on the intel committee at the same time Swalwell served on it.
In his 2023 book “Government Gangsters,” Patel named Swalwell as a “corrupt actor.” Swalwell signaled that Patel, a former MAGA firebrand, said in his book that dozens of Democrats and Republicans who fell out of favor with Trump were members of the so-called deep state. Swalwell asked Patel to recuse from investigating anyone in his book. Patel ultimately said he would not recuse himself, but not before a yelling match ensued.
“I’m going to borrow your terminology and call bullsh**t on your entire career in Congress,” Patel said. “It has been a disgrace to the American people,” he added as Swalwell shouted over him to reclaim his time and as other lawmakers called for order.
Swalwell was one of numerous Democrats to broach the Epstein files after the DOJ botched a rollout of them earlier this year and ultimately said it would not disclose any further nonpublic information. Patel had long said prior to becoming FBI director that the government was covering for sexual predators affiliated with Epstein.
Patel addressed the case in his opening statement, saying former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta did not, in his view, seek enough information when Epstein was originally prosecuted.
“The original sin on the Epstein case was how it was handled by Mr. Acosta when he first brought the case in 2006, seven and eight,” Patel said. “The original case had a very limited search warrant, had a very limited search window.… I would not have done it that way.”
Epstein was later charged with trafficking underage women in 2019 and, according to authorities, died by suicide while awaiting trial.
At the close of the hearing, Democrats held a vote to subpoena four banks associated with Epstein, whose massive wealth remains a point of scrutiny. Republicans countered the effort by voting to table the motion.
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