At a Senate hearing, Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) read Patel a quote from Congressman and Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James, who told podcaster Benny Johnson that Patel said the FBI would have a presence in Michigan leading up to Election Day. Patel answered that the FBI has an election crimes coordinator in all 56 field offices and "you bet we're gonna have them there." Welch shot back, "I thought you weren't gonna be sending people to the polls," and Patel called it "just another lie."
The receipt
- Who
- Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)
- Where
- hearing - Senate Judiciary Committee
- Original footage
- C-SPAN · watch the full video from this moment
- Length
- 51 seconds, unedited within the cut
Read the transcript
You've been asked a few questions about what the FBI role is going to be. Last month, Congressman and Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James said to podcaster Benny Johnson, quote, I've already had a good conversation with my friend, Cash Patel, who has said already that the FBI will have a presence leading up to Election Day in Michigan in both West Michigan and Southeast Michigan. Is that true? We have an election crimes community coordinator in all 56 field office So you bet we're gonna have them there and manning the pose for election interference matters Wait, I thought you weren't gonna be sending people to the polls. When did you hear that? It's just another lie. Mr. Blumenthal. Nope So you are sending you are sending we have election crisis coordinators
Machine transcript of the clip's audio; names are checked, small words may differ.