During Kashyap "Kash" Patel's Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Blackburn requested his help in releasing files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said that since much of Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing so far has focused on President Donald Trump’s clemency grants to people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, “it’s important that we remind people at the same time of some pardons by the previous administration.”

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick for FBI director, faced a heated confirmation hearing as Democrats zeroed in on his past comments.

Outside a hearing room in the Hart Senate Office Building, there was a long line of expectant MAGA supporters. Many had been waiting for hours, hoping to witness a defining moment ushering in a Trumpian takeover of one of the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agencies.

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s nominee for a 10-year term as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, distanced himself on Thursday from Trump’s sweeping pardon of Jan. 6 rioters, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee he did not think violent rioters who assaulted law enforcement deserved a break.