Trump's attorney general nominee defends Kash Patel at Senate hearing

NEW YORK: President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, has mounted a strong defence of Kash Patel who came under withering criticism in a preview of the grilling he is likely to receive from a Senate panel.

"I have known Kash, and I believe that Kash is the right person at this time for this job," Bondi said on Wednesday as several Democratic Party senators questioned his suitability to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

"What I do know is Mr Patel was a career prosecutor. He was a career public defender defending people. And he also has great experience within the intelligence community," she said.

While Bondi was before the Senate Judiciary Committee for her confirmation to become the attorney general, the spotlight was on Patel's controversial statements.

His hearing before the panel has not been scheduled. Like most senior US government officials, the FBI director needs Senate approval.

A Republican firebrand, Patel had written about an "enemies list" of government employees and politicians, said he would shut down the FBI headquarters on "Day 1," and made remarks about QAnon, an extremist right-wing movement that promotes bizarre conspiracy theories.

As the head of the Justice Department, Bondi will oversee the FBI.

She reassured the senators, "Mr Patel would fall under me and the Department of Justice and I will ensure that all laws are followed -- and so will he."

A senior Democratic Party senator Dick Durbin brought up QAnon which he said had spread a conspiracy theory about a "cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic child molesters" working against Trump, and Patel's statements about it.

Bondi said in exasperation, "I look forward to hearing his testimony about QAnon in front of this committee."

A Republican senator, Thom Tillis came to their defence remarking, "You know, it's just absurd to kind of throw that stuff out there."

He asked, "Does anybody honestly believe someone with a distinguished career like Kash Patel thinks that a cannibalistic cabal controlling the internals of government really exists?"

Another Democrat, Richard Blumenthal, said that Bondi should disavow Patel's controversial statements, and he should also do so.

"I am not familiar with all those comments. (and) I have not discussed those comments with Mr Patel," she said.

Patel's book, "Government Gangsters" mentions an "enemies list" of people he said were conspiring against Trump.

When it was brought up, Bondi said, "I don't believe he has an enemies list. He made a quote on TV that I have not heard."

"There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice," she declared.

The hearings signalled the opposition Patel would face in the Senate because of his closeness to Trump and his flamboyance.

Towards the end of his first term, Trump wanted to appoint Patel as the deputy director of the CIA but was foiled by opposition from the then-head, Gina Haspel.

He had served as the deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, before becoming the chief of staff to the then-acting Secretary of Defence Christopher Miller.

Trump named Bondi to be attorney general after his first nominee Matt Gaetz withdrew because of accusations that he paid women, including a minor, for sex and used drugs.

A Congressional ethics committee later affirmed the allegations.

Bondi is a former attorney general of Florida and Trump's lawyer during his first impeachment.