00:00How many FBI agents were used in the investigation of the Mar-a-Lago documents case against the
00:08President? About how many? I have no idea. I wasn't here then. Would it have been dozens? I don't know.
00:14You'd have to ask the prior administration. Well, a lot of those people were fired under your
00:20directorship, were they not? I don't think a lot of them, but a lot of them retired, and some of
00:24the ones that weaponized law enforcement were terminated, as they always will be. So can you
00:28pull the microphone close? We're having trouble hearing you. You might want to pull the whole thing
00:32closer to you. So are you just like today that you don't know if they were fired, or maybe some
00:40of
00:40them were fired, or many were fired? What's your testimony? How many of them? My testimony is I
00:44don't know the personnel actions that were taken by the prior administration and the personnel
00:48actions. No, I'm talking about your administration. I'm getting there. The personnel actions that were
00:51taken by me are simply as follows. Nobody at the FBI, as they've committed to, is allowed to participate in
00:57the weaponization of law enforcement. That's not my question. How many of the agents who worked on
01:03Mar-a-Lago investigation of Donald Trump, how many of them were fired by the FBI? I don't know.
01:08Are any of them still working for the FBI? I don't have that number. That's not my
01:12responsibility. Well, that's not, I'm not asking for a number now. Are any of the agents who worked
01:16on the Mar-a-Lago investigation of the president still employed at the FBI? I don't believe so. Most of
01:21them
01:21left. Okay, so you don't believe any of the agents who worked on that investigation are still
01:28at the FBI? I can't stop them from retiring. Is it your testimony that they're not at the FBI because
01:34they retired, not because they were fired? My understanding is the overwhelming majority of those
01:38agents and FBI personnel retired. Well, let me ask you this. Todd Blanche at a CPAC conference says,
01:48and when it comes to the FBI, Director Patel has cleaned house there too. There isn't a single man
01:54or woman with a gun, federal agent still in that organization, that had anything to do with the
02:02prosecution of President Trump. So the Attorney General says you cleaned house at the FBI. I did.
02:09Was he right? Was he truthful when he said there's not a single agent at the FBI who worked on
02:14the
02:14Mar-a-Lago investigation still employed by the FBI? The Attorney General is always truthful, so I
02:18believe his statement. Okay, so they've all, they're all gone. Is your testimony today that most of those
02:24agents are no longer with the FBI because they decided suddenly to retire? Yeah. They weren't fired
02:30in whole or in part because they worked on that investigation? The bulk of the individuals that
02:34worked on those investigations left shortly thereafter. And they left voluntarily? In the prior
02:40administration. I'm talking about under your watch, Director Patel. They left before I got there.
02:45There's really nothing I can do. So it's your testimony that most of them voluntarily left the
02:50Bureau. They weren't fired? Most of them, yeah. And is the same true of the agents who investigated the
02:56President's involvement in January 6th? How many, well, first of all, how many agents would you say
03:01that would be? Would it be dozens or hundreds of agents? I don't know. You'd have to ask the prior
03:06administration. They were in charge of them. You have no idea whether it is over 100 agents?
03:11No, my focus is not going back in time. My focus is crushing violent crime and defending the homeland
03:16and receive the work results. My question is, were those agents, as Todd Blanch indicated,
03:24also purged from the FBI under your watch because they had worked on the January 6th investigation?
03:31The FBI has one specific and simple standard. If you don't meet our high standards,
03:35That's not my question. I'm getting there. If you don't
03:38meet those standards, you don't get to work at the FBI. Take a little less time to get there,
03:43if you would. Were they purged because they worked on the January 6th investigation of the
03:48President? There was no purging, and there are individuals who worked on a whole host of
03:52investigations. Were any of those agents, were any of those agents fired?
03:56Many retired, some were terminated. Excuse me, excuse me. Let me finish the question.
04:01Go ahead. Were any of the agents who worked on the Mar-a-Lago investigation,
04:05or the January 6th investigation, were any of those agents fired in whole or in part
04:12because they worked on those investigations?
04:15So the simple fact of working on those investigations? No. If they weaponized law enforcement, yes.
04:21So all of the agents who just happened to work on those investigations and were fired,
04:28is it your testimony that's because they were engaged in some other malfeasance other than
04:34simply being assigned to those two cases? There's an entire inspection division at the FBI that looked
04:39at the totality of not just these agents and employees, but everybody on a constant basis,
04:43and they make recommendations to leadership. But my question is very specific, Mr. Patel.
04:46Answering your question. Are you, well, I haven't heard the answer,
04:49so I'm gonna try again. Go ahead. Of all the probably hundreds of agents who worked on those
04:56two investigations of the president, those hundreds of agents, maybe thousands, that your
05:02attorney general says are gone from the FBI, is it your testimony that none of them were fired
05:10solely for working on those investigations? All FBI personnel, those matters or others,
05:17are held to the same standard. You don't meet it, you don't get to work at the FBI. So it's
05:21your testimony
05:21that none of them were fired in whole or in part because they worked on those investigations? I've
05:26answered the question. Is that answer yes? I've answered the question. Well, I don't think you have.
05:33advantage of what you if you have.
05:33Have a recent trial.
Comments