HOTSEAT

The Senate Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing, like most others, is a parody of reality television. FBI Director Kash Patel is in the hot seat, surrounded by a gang of senators he’s accused of everything from high treason to general buggery.

Some of Patel’s arch-enemies arrived well-prepared for the showdown. Rep. Raskin played clips from Patel’s podcasting tour, where Patel was especially critical of the FBI’s Epstein case handling. Patel had said the “Epstein files” were under the direct control of the FBI Director. His message: the FBI kept these files hidden by design. Kash even revealed his own wishes for the Bureau, which sounded to me like a total gutting. Most viewers sided with Patel’s plan. Something is wrong with the Epstein case—Patel named the exact office keeping evidence from the public, and he promised to change it. Months later, he got the job.

I still remember laughing at the first notifications of Patel’s nomination. The irony would soon become clear.

Raskin, clips in hand, sharply asked why Patel hadn’t released the “Epstein files,” as he once claimed the FBI Director should. This was Raskin’s opening volley. Patel replied in classic hot-seat fashion: the FBI had released more Epstein files than any previous administration. Technically true, but pure evasion. By Patel’s own logic, the Biden administration’s record shouldn’t matter—the Director is responsible. Raskin pressed, wielding sharper language and attempted traps, while Patel pivoted to applaud the Bureau’s daily efforts and accused Raskin of undermining them. When the barrage paused, Raskin circled back: Why have you not released the files? Patel answered, half-politically, he’d released everything courts had allowed. Raskin dodged that, resuming the attack. His aides looked frantic, scrambling for a trap to get Patel to perjure himself—the real endgame for all of Patel’s foes in the room.

Obvious to anyone paying attention: neither Raskin nor Patel want to discuss the court orders blocking the file’s release. Raskin boxed himself in, muttering there’s “barely anything more” in the files—files he supposedly wanted released. By now, contradictions were everywhere. Kash even upped the ante, telling Raskin there’s actually A LOT more.

Back to Trump’s appointment. Patel now had the job he critiqued while outside the Biden administration. Inside Trump’s government, he discovers the Epstein files aren’t really his to release. Higher powers restrain even the FBI Director when it comes to what Patel calls A LOT more information.

The real question - why are A LOT more Epstein files being withheld by multiple court orders?