Kash Patel
Role at the time: FBI Director
Explicitly stayed out
Statement summary
Kash Patel declined to give Sen. Peter Welch a direct pledge against FBI election interference, calling the request "a charade of lies."
“When did you hear that? It’s just another lie... I have pledged unequivocally that I will not participate in your charade of lies.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Kash Patel Won’t Rule Out Sending Armed Federal Agents to the Polls
Fullest quoted transcript of the "just another lie" / "charade of lies" back-and-forth between Welch and Patel, corroborated by embedded video clips.
Why we used 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.