Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) railed against the Steele dossier, a discredited document central to the Russia investigation of President Donald Trump, during the confirmation hearing for Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI.
Patel appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, where he faced tough questioning from Democrats but a warm welcome from Republicans.
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Patel, in his opening remarks, claimed to be a victim of the weaponization of the justice system and vowed to, if confirmed, ensure that nobody has to be the subject of a politically motivated investigation or prosecution.
Graham hit on that theme during his first line of questioning, repeatedly asking Patel if he was familiar with the intelligence community’s investigations into possible links between Trump and the government of Russia during his 2016 presidential campaign.
“Are you aware that the FBI had volumes of information that the Steele dossier was a bunch of bulls*** and nobody ever told anybody at the top?” Graham said in one exchange.
Broadcasts of the hearing failed to censor Graham’s use of profanity.
Graham wasn’t the only lawmaker to swear during the Patel hearing. Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) dropped an emphatic f-bomb while reading an email sent by Peter Strzok, a former FBI agent overseeing the 2016 Trump-Russia investigations.
“Do you remember when the IG revealed another email by Mr. Strzok to his girlfriend?” Kennedy read. “Mr. Strzok said, quote, ‘I am riled up. Trump is a f***ing idiot. He’s unable to provide a coherent answer.’ End of quote.”
Trump himself on Thursday also likely sent Federal Communications Commission moderators into a tizzy with his White House press briefing outlining the federal response to Wednesday night’s deadly plane crash outside Washington, D.C.
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“Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a real winner,” the president said while attempting to shift blame for the crash onto the previous administration’s policies. “Do you know how badly everything’s run since he’s run the Department of Transportation? He’s a disaster. He was a disaster as a mayor. He ran a city into the ground, and he’s a disaster now. He’s just got a good line of bulls***.”
You can watch Patel’s hearing in full below.
