Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) clashed with Patel over the handling of Jeffrey Epstein’s files and the director’s refusal to recuse himself from investigations involving people he has publicly labeled on a so-called enemies list.
Swalwell pressed Patel on whether he had told President Donald Trump or Attorney General Pam Bondi that Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files. Patel denied ever speaking to Trump about the records, but when asked about Bondi, said only that they had “numerous discussions” about the files without giving a direct yes or no answer.
Swalwell accused Patel of playing “a huge shell game” with the records. “You say you can’t release anything because the court has said it legally is not allowed to be released. But the court calls bulls***,” he said, pointing to Judge Richard Bergen’s ruling that the grand jury transcripts “pale in comparison” to other Epstein materials still held by the Justice Department.
When Patel again avoided a direct answer, Swalwell said, “We’ll take your evasiveness as consciousness of guilt.” That triggered Patel’s sharpest retort of the day: “I’m gonna borrow your terminology and call bulls*** on your entire career in Congress. It’s been a disgrace for the American people.”
.@ericswalwell and @FBIDirectorKash are going at it. Patel would not answer if he would recuse himself from any investigations of his list of so-called “government gangsters” in which Swalwell’s name appears pic.twitter.com/kp9f5eY4XA
— Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) September 17, 2025
Swalwell then turned to Patel’s book, Government Gangsters. “You identified 20 individuals in that book, and you put me at the top of the list. Twenty of those individuals have been investigated or had adverse actions,” he said. “Director, considering that you identified these people as ‘government gangsters,’ will you recuse yourself from making any investigation decisions about these individuals?”
Patel’s reply was one word: “No.”
