Kash Patel declines to pledge the FBI will not interfere in the elections
FBI Director
“When did you hear that? It’s just another lie... I have pledged unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Fullest quoted transcript of the "just another lie" / "charade of lies" back-and-forth between Welch and Patel, corroborated by embedded video clips.
Reporting
About this source
The fullest secondary account of the Welch–Patel exchange, quoting Welch’s full question and Patel’s reply verbatim, plus the surrounding contentious back-and-forth.
Before the quotation
Welch, reacting to Patel’s coordinators answer, said "I thought you weren’t going to be sending people to the polls" and then asked Patel directly to pledge the FBI would not interfere with the November elections.
After the quotation
Sen. John Cornyn, who had taken over the gavel from Chairman Grassley, intervened to tell the two senators to "knock it off."
How this statement is classified
Case context: Patel questioned on FBI presence at Michigan polling places after John James claim
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
When Welch asked Patel to "pledge that you will not in any way interfere in the will of the American people when they go to the polls," Patel did not answer yes or no. Instead he called the question "just another lie" and said he had "pledged unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies" — refusing to give the requested pledge rather than answering it.
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Patel questioned on FBI presence at Michigan polling places after John James claim
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More from this case
Read the full case“We have an election crimes community coordinator in all 56 field offices, so you bet we’re going to have them there and manning the posts for election interference matters.”Read statement