Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Thursday grilled President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, on whether he knew Laura Loomer.
Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, made the comments during a confirmation hearing on Patel’s nomination.
“You’ve frequently associated with and sometimes praised extremist figures,” Durbin said as a staffer behind him held up a life-sized picture of Patel standing with Loomer at a 2023 book-signing event. Durbin claimed that Loomer said the “September 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job” and accused Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, “of exaggerating her cancer diagnosis to gain voter sympathy.”
“One of my colleagues described her as a ‘crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly utters disgusting garbage,'” Durbin said. “Given all this, why did you associate with Ms. Loomer?”
“I took a photograph with an individual who showed up at a book event,” Patel replied. “I don’t believe I’m guilty by association, and I certainly don’t believe that … the first minority to serve as the deputy director of national intelligence for this country is a racist in any way, and I detest any conjecture to the contrary.”
He didn’t deny the association. @Kash_Patel has been on my show and knows me well.
He denied accusations of RACISM leveled by lying Senate Dems.
The things @SenatorDurbin said about me and Kash are false. Go read my book and see for yourself. I have always said the 9/11…
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) January 30, 2025
Patel, 44, served as the principal deputy to the acting director of intelligence in Trump’s first administration, in addition to serving as a senior director to the counterterrorism directorate at the National Security Council.
Loomer weighed in on the exchange on X in a message directed at Ian Miles Cheong, writing, “He didn’t deny the association. @Kash_Patel has been on my show and knows me well. He denied accusations of RACISM leveled by lying Senate Dems. The things @SenatorDurbin said about me and Kash are false. Go read my book and see for yourself. I have always said the 9/11 attacks were Islamic terror attacks.
You can watch Patel’s full exchange with Durbin above.
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