FBI Director Kash Patel testified during what was at times a tense hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 16.

During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Patel fielded questions about assassination of political commentator Charlie Kirk, the FBI’s budget, its personnel, and the investigation into deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Fireworks erupted during exchanges between the FBI director and Democratic senators, who challenged Patel on his job performance.

Here are five takeaways from Patel’s Senate testimony.

Domestic Terror, AI Cases Under Investigation

Patel confirmed that the FBI is investigating more than 1,700 domestic terrorism cases. He said a large chunk of those are “nihilistic violent extremism ... those who engage in violent acts motivated by a deep hatred of society.”

He said the surge amounted to a “300 percent increase” in cases opened this year alone compared with the same time period in 2024.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked Patel if the bureau is investigating any instances of generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots creating “synthetic child sex abuse material,” in which the technology generates pornographic content from a real child’s photo.

Patel said the FBI treats any AI-generated child sexual abuse material “equally as if it were actual child sex abuse material.”

Discussing “nihilistic violent extremism” again, Patel pointed to groups such as 764, a global online extremist network that targets children for criminal activity.

Patel said the FBI has conducted more than 1,000 investigations into these cases.

“And these chatbots and these generative AI are getting coupled with actual humans who are using them and releasing them because they can do the work faster and quicker than humans can,” he said.

Patel Denies Alleged Politicization of FBI

Multiple Democratic lawmakers alleged politicization of the FBI during the second Trump administration and asked Patel whether any bureau agents or officials were terminated for working on cases against Trump or regarding the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Patel denied that any of the firings were related to specific case assignments or were recommended by anyone at the White House.

The FBI director was also asked whether he had been directed by the White House or others to “engage in a crackdown on political groups or organizations, nonprofits” after Kirk’s assassination last week.

“No, I’ve been asked by my chain of command to properly root out criminal activity wherever it is, in whatever investigation we’re conducting, and that’s what we’re doing,” Patel said.

When asked whether the White House had made any “distinctions” about whom Patel would target, the FBI director said: “Nobody gives me a list on who to target.

“My targeting list is from the men and women at the FBI.”

FBI’s Immigration Priorities

Patel also encountered questions about the FBI’s redirection of personnel to help with federal immigration enforcement.

“You’ve reassigned large numbers of agents to work on immigration and street crime—issues other law enforcement agencies can handle, perhaps more effectively with the FBI,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told Patel. “But I’m concerned that this compromises the bureau’s ability to address national security risks.”

Coons also questioned Patel’s request for a budget cut from Congress. Patel responded that even if the agency had extra money, it wouldn’t be able to hire people overnight.

“We’re looking for where the need is greatest, where in the country we need to send them, and how we can change the training requirements,” Patel said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said using FBI agents for immigration enforcement was “good,” but wondered whether Patel needed more help.

“You got a chance here to tell us if you need more people,” Graham said. “Seems to me that the threat level of this country is pretty high right now.”

Patel said he was “comfortable” with the reallocation of agents, noting that he was “plussing up” states such as South Carolina.

Confrontations With Democratic Senators

Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) were two of the Democratic senators who clashed with Patel during the hearing, which at times descended into a shouting match.

Booker accused Patel of shifting the FBI’s priorities “primarily to pursuing Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda,” suggesting that the FBI director would soon be fired.

“That rant of false information does not bring this country together,” Patel said.

The two began speaking over each other after Booker interjected, leading Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee’s chairman, to bang the gavel in an attempt to restore order.

Schiff, who often gets into terse exchanges with Trump administration officials, first probed Patel on whether any terminations at the FBI were politically motivated, which the director denied.

The California senator then turned to the interview that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche conducted with Epstein’s convicted associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, and how she was then immediately moved to a minimum security prison.

Patel said the Bureau of Prisons made that decision, prompting Schiff to ask how the move could be “completely unrelated to this interview.”

“You want the American people to believe that? Do you think they’re stupid?” Schiff asked.

Patel responded, “No, I think the American people believe the truth that I’m not in the weeds on the everyday movements of inmates.”

Epstein Investigation

Patel fielded several questions about how the federal government had handled investigations into Epstein’s crimes.

Patel said that the “original sin” in the Epstein case was how Alex Acosta, who served as labor secretary in the first Trump administration, handled the case as a federal prosecutor in 2006. More specifically, he said the search warrants were too limited, while the non-prosecution agreement led courts to block certain evidence from the public.

Epstein’s case has garnered congressional scrutiny and significant media attention surrounding who else was involved in the deceased sex offender’s orbit. At one point, Grassley asked Patel whether Epstein was an intelligence asset for the U.S. government or a foreign government.

Patel responded that he could speak only about the FBI.

“Mr. Epstein was not a source for the FBI,” he said.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) also asked Patel who Epstein trafficked young women to besides himself.

“There is no credible information, none,” Patel responded. “If there were, I would bring the case yesterday that he trafficked to other individuals, and the information we have, again, is limited.”

Nathan Worcester and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.