A photographer captured FBI Director Kash Patel’s notes offering a pep talk to himself during a contentious hearing with the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Patel was grilled by lawmakers about his leadership of the FBI, his handling of files linked to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
A photo captured by Getty reveals the FBI director praising himself for clashing with Democrats and other notes giving himself a pep talk.
The four lines read, “Good fight w/ Swalwell,” “Hold the line,” “Brush off their attacks” and “Rise above next line of [illegible] attacks.”
Patel, a podcaster and MAGA children’s book author, needed all the help he could get. Patel was the first prominent Trump Justice Department official to testify under oath since the Epstein scandal engulf the White House.
During an exchange with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) Patel refused to answer a simple yes or no question, nine times, about whether he told Attorney General Pam Bondi that Donald Trump’s name appeared in the Epstein files.
Asked by Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) on whether he ever met with Epstein’s victims, Patel dodge the question entirely telling the lawmaker, “Any insinuation by you or any people on your side that I am not manhunting child predators and sex traffickers, just look at the stats.”
Meanwhile, the answers he provided did the administration no favors and fueled concerns about a coverup. He told lawmakers there was “no credible information” Epstein had trafficked victims to other men.
When Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie noted that Epstein’s victims have alleged Epstein trafficked victims to at least 20 men.
Patel suggested that prosecutors thought the information was not credible and he would release it.
