'Did You Get An Instruction From The White House?': Jack Reed Presses FBI's Patel About DOGE Info Access

Forbes Breaking News

At today's Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) questioned FBI Director Kash Patel.

Transcript

00:00Senator Reid. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Director. As you're

00:05well aware, DOGE is going through and seizing a significant amount of

00:12information from different federal agencies. There are multiple lawsuits

00:17challenging the legality of this. Their goal, as they admitted, is to develop a

00:25single centralized data center, which would have vast amounts of data, which

00:29could be used for very malign purposes. But first, can you give us assurance that

00:35every one of those DOGE workers has the appropriate clearance to see this

00:41information? As far as it relates to the FBI, I can. But not the other agencies? Well, I

00:48don't know who's where, Senator. I'd have to look. Well, don't you think it'd be

00:52pretty important to look if there is a chance that this is a violation of

00:58multiple laws? Well, Senator, what we do is everyone that is employed at any agency

01:02that we own the security clearance process adjudication for, we make sure we

01:07adjudicate appropriately beforehand. Who would be responsible for the other

01:11agencies, the agency itself? The agency itself. Have you received

01:17instructions from the White House to you and every other agency to ensure the

01:22security clearances of these individuals? For me, as it relates to who we control,

01:28yeah, we adjudicate the security clearance. Did you get an instruction from the White

01:31House to do that? To make sure they have their security clearances? No, I don't need an

01:35instruction. I just do it. Has it been instructions to other agencies? It's less so

01:42an instruction whether it's DOGE or a new hire or whatnot. If they're getting a

01:46security clearance, they go through a process. The bottom line is you, in your

01:50position, cannot assure us that all the people that are dealing with this

01:54information, because it's vast across the whole government, have their appropriate

01:59clearances. Do you know where this information is located when it's removed

02:03from federal sites? What information? The BI information center? All the

02:08information they're picking up from the Department of Treasury, the Department of

02:13Agriculture. As you know, DOGE is working through every federal agency. Again, Senator,

02:20it depends on who the adjudicator is for the clearance. If we, the FBI, are for that

02:25individual or individuals, we maintain it in our BI system. So they cannot take the

02:30information from the FBI. It has to remain in your system. I'm talking about DOGE. When

02:36DOGE employees walk into your computers, get on their computers, with their own

02:41computers, I've been told. Where does that information go? As far as I'm, as far as

02:47I'm tracking for the FBI, nobody's bringing in outside computers to do

02:51anything. But is that the case throughout the government? Well, I can't speak for

02:55every other agency. I just don't know, sir. Once this information is, and in some

03:02cases has been clear in press reports that it is leaving the premises and of the

03:07agency, if this information is all consolidated as the suggestion is, what

03:17protections are there for the American people against the misuse of this

03:21information? Well, again, I can't speak to other agencies and how they hold their

03:26information. I'm not familiar with it. As far as the FBI is concerned, we hold all

03:31information for BIs in one place and it is not accessible. Now, you're the Chief

03:37and Law Enforcement Officer of the United States, practically speaking, and you're

03:42not interested in ensuring that the data of millions and millions of Americans are

03:48not absolutely secure? I am, but I cannot tell the Department of Homeland Security

03:54how to handle their data. That's for the DHS Secretary. I'm not permitted by law to...

03:59What law prevents that? If you believe there's a crime that's being committed...

04:05If there's a crime that's being committed, that's a separate instance, Senator. You're

04:08just talking about holding data. No, I'm talking about holding data that someone

04:12should not have access to and in a place or location it should not be located at

04:17with, in my view, constitute... In that hypothetical, if a law was being broken, our line agents would

04:23open up a case. Have you opened up a case? But we're speaking about a hypothetical, so I don't

04:28know. No, no. We're speaking about Doge, which is operating every day, collecting information,

04:35putting that information together, with, I think, malicious intent, because it's not an

04:43agency that's saving a lot of money. And it could be used to defraud Americans. It could

04:49be used to interfere with our voting systems. It could be used many ways. And if we don't get

04:55a handle on it now, and you're the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer, I think we're going

05:00to see some very, very adverse results. And I would hope you would get to look at this

05:08and investigate this immediately and take appropriate actions. Thank you.

05:14Senator Britt.

05:16I don't think you want to know if you've got to name him.

Category

Transcript

Recommended