The yearslong feud between longtime political rivals Adam Schiff and Kash Patel reached a fever pitch Tuesday afternoon, complete with a shouting match that briefly derailed an ongoing Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
The confrontation occurred when Schiff, a Democratic senator from California, questioned Patel, the FBI director, about the Justice Department’s decision to move Ghislaine Maxwell — an associate of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — to a lower security prison facility.
Schiff asked Patel whether he believed the American people were “stupid” enough to believe his answer that the Bureau of Prisons independently made the decision to move Maxwell, rather than it being a politically-motivated move by the White House.
“What I am doing is protecting this country … and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you,” Patel said, interrupting Schiff. “We have countlessly proven you to be a liar in Russiangate, in January 6. You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate.”
Patel went on to call him “a political buffoon at best.”
The animosity between the two men dates back, at least, to Schiff’s time as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, where he led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Patel, then a House Intelligence staffer, was tasked with working to discredit the probe.
Five years later, Schiff served on a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol; Patel, meanwhile, was an advocate for many of the incarcerated rioters.
Years later, in the lead-up to Patel’s confirmation to lead the FBI, Senate Judiciary Democrats pointed to the fact that Patel reposted a meme on social media that featured the likeness of Patel taking a chainsaw to Schiff’s head. Another photo shared by Democrats showed an image of Patel appearing to hold an object with Schiff’s face beside a catapult.
More recently, Patel has accused Schiff of moving to leak incriminating information about President Donald Trump while Intelligence Committee chair. Schiff, through a spokesperson, has denied the claims.
As the shouting on Tuesday continued, Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary panel, pleaded with chair Chuck Grassley to take control of the situation. Grassley pounded his gavel repeatedly, saying, “Both of you be quiet.”
It was perhaps the most heated moment of the questioning on Tuesday, during which Patel was pressed on his handling of the Epstein matter and the investigation into the assassination of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, among other topics.
But it was not the first explosive exchange of the day. Patel also tangled with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who told the FBI director, “I think you’re not gonna be around long” — a suggestion Trump would eventually turn on him.
That comment set off a similar shouting match in which Patel called Booker “an embarrassment to your country” and Booker shouted back, “I’m not afraid of you.”
In a social media post after the conclusion of the hearing, Schiff contended that Patel went before lawmakers to “save his job” and argued he was “performing for an audience of one.” The White House, meanwhile, congratulated Patel for going after “Pencil Neck” — the president’s nickname for Schiff.
Patel will go before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
