FBI Director Kash Patel will face a U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday for a second day of questioning by lawmakers, who are expected to focus on his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Patel broadly defended his seven-month tenure as head of the FBI and his handling of the Epstein probe during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, pushing back against Democrats who criticized his leadership of the most prominent U.S. law enforcement agency.
Patel told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the FBI had no information to support such claims, but said the FBI had limited evidence in its possession because a federal investigation into Epstein two decades ago was overly narrow in scope.
The issue has sparked a rare rift between Trump and his Make America Great Again movement. Trump, a one-time friend of Epstein, has urged his supporters to move on and dismissed the issue as a hoax pushed by his Democratic opponents.
Patel had boosted claims about Epstein during appearances on conservative podcasts before Trump nominated him to lead the FBI.
The Justice Department has begun handing records over to the House Oversight Committee, which has subpoenaed material related to Epstein.
