Nominee for FBI chief promises crackdown on FBI’s surveillance of Catholics, pro-life activists

Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, said he will end improper surveillance of traditional Catholics and pro-life activists if confirmed.

Patel’s promise came during his confirmation hearing on Thursday and after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, raised questions about ending FBI corruption and faith-targeting as the hearing rolled into its third hour.

The five-and-a-half hour hearing focused on concerns from both political parties over weaponization of the justice system. Patel’s eight-minute exchange with Hawley focused on an FBI memo leaked in late 2023 from a Richmond, Virginia, field office directing surveillance of traditional Catholic churches and FBI investigations of pro-life activists participating in non-violent protests.

Hawley highlighted the case of Mark Houck, a pro-life father who had been arrested by the FBI for two alleged FACE Act violations after Houck pushed a Planned Parenthood volunteer who was harassing Houck’s 12-year-old son.

Local authorities had already dropped charges, and Houck’s lawyers had offered to peacefully bring Houck in for questioning if needed. Still, more than 20 FBI agents arrested Houck at gunpoint in front of the Catholic man’s wife and seven children. A federal jury acquitted Houck of all charges.

Hawley asked Patel if he thought it was “appropriate [for] the FBI to single out and target people of faith in order to discourage the exercise of their first amendment rights.”

“There can never be a targeting by law enforcement just based on people’s faith,” Patel replied, vowing to investigate “any matter important to Congress” and to hold accountable FBI employees who “violated the sacred trust” given to the bureau.

Hawley also questioned Patel about the FBI’s use of counterterrorism agents to investigate parents protesting at school boards over COVID masking policies or concepts drawn from critical race theory being used in K-12 classes.

“Parents who have the courage to ensure their children are taught what they feel is right … will never be domestic terrorists,” Patel responded, adding that he would discipline FBI employees responsible for targeting conservative parents.

Throughout the hearing, Patel referenced a recent Gallup poll that revealed declining public trust in the FBI: 41% of Americans rated the FBI’s performance as excellent or good in 2024, down from 53% in 2003. And the number of Americans rating the FBI’s performance as poor more than doubled, from 12% to 30%. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to give federal agencies low ratings.

During the hearing, Republican senators focused their questions on politically motivated FBI investigations under the Biden administration, while Democrat senators centered on fears Trump would use the justice system to retaliate against political opponents.

Democrat senators questioned Patel about whether he would refuse to obey orders that instructed him to violate U.S. law. Senator Peter Welch, D-Vermont, pressed Patel on whether he would politicize the FBI and seek retribution against Trump’s political opponents. Senator Adam Schiff, D-California, also questioned Patel about pardons for J-6 participants charged with assaulting police officers. Patel said he opposes commuting sentences for people convicted of violence against police officers.

Patel also pointed to his record of service under the Bush, Obama, and first Trump administrations as evidence of his commitment to serve the best interests of American citizens under any administration. Patel served as a public defender, an award-winning terrorism prosecutor under Obama’s Justice Department, and a senior national intelligence official under the Trump administration.

Patel vowed that if confirmed he would focus the powers of the FBI on investigating crimes affecting average Americans, such as the sale of fentanyl, rape, murder and sex trafficking.