ICYMI: Booker “Blasts” FBI Director Kash Patel, Drawing Praise for Demanding Accountability at Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC —In case you missed it, earlier this week U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “ grilled ” FBI Director Kash Patel at a committee hearing and called him an “ embarrassment to the agency ,” drawing widespread praise for “ laying out the degree to which he is not qualified ” for the role. He specifically pressed Patel on the FBI’s investigation into a New York Times reporter who covered his use of agency resources, as well as grand jury subpoenas issued to Times reporters after they reported on security lapses involving Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One replacement. SEE FOR YOURSELF: MS NOW The Weeknight: Cory Booker on Kash Patel September 15, 2026 Commentator: “I think that Cory Booker did a great job of laying out the degree to which Kash Patel is not qualified for this.” Booker: “We have a lackey here who is using [the FBI]. And frankly, he’s not even a good lackey. He’s an incompetent lackey. He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He’s an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn’t qualify even to be an FBI agent. What’s bad is that we have Republicans in the Senate that are enabling him to go without any objective oversight or transparency or accountability.” Commentator: “I thought that point was so important because Trump has a lot of lackeys. The issue is, they are all incompetent for the most part. And secondly, to have the head of the FBI likely not even pass a background check to be an agent speaks volumes of where we are.” ABC News Sen. Cory Booker and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman September 15, 2026 FBI Director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday was pressed about whether he would send the FBI agents to polling places -- clashing with Democrats over the topic. CentralJersey.com Booker Calls FBI Director Patel a “Lackey” as GOP Lawmaker Moves to Impeach Hegseth September 16, 2026 By: Josh King U.S. Senator Cory Booker, D-NJ, told FBI Director Kash Patel that the bureau no longer has a real director, only someone doing another person's bidding. Booker made the remark directly to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa, while Patel sat in the room during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on FBI oversight held on September 15, 2026. Booker did not stop there. He said Patel was not even competent at deferring to others, comparing him to a teenager trying to join a fraternity he could never actually get into, complete with drinking games. Booker said Patel was an embarrassment to the agency who would not even qualify to be a rank-and-file FBI agent, and he separately called the director a thug. Booker argued the real problem goes beyond Patel himself. He said Senate Republicans are letting a rogue FBI director intimidate reporters without any objective oversight, transparency, or accountability, per Insider NJ. Insider NJ Booker Shreds Patel as Massie Moves to Impeach Hegseth By Max Pizarro September 16, 2026| U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) criticized FBI Director Kash Patel at yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on FBI oversight. “We don’t have an FBI director, we have a lackey here," Booker told Chairman Chuck Grassley, as Patel looked on. Booker continued of the FBI Director: "[He's] using govern—and frankly, he’s not even a good lackey, he’s an incompetent lackey. He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of. Doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He’s an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn’t qualify, even, to be an FBI agent." The senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey also referred to Patel as a "thug." “What is bad is not just that we have a rogue FBI agent intimidating reporters, what’s bad is that we have Republicans in the Senate enabling him to go without any objective oversight or transparency or accountability!” Booker added. Booker's clash with Patel came on the same day that a Republican congressman introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. POLITICO FBI’s Kash Patel brawls with Senate Democrats at Judiciary hearing By: Chris Marquette September 15, 2026 Senate Democrats battered FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday at a Senate Judiciary oversight hearing, combatively criticizing a broad swath of his behavior and performance to the point the panel’s chair asked one to “shut up.” The scrutiny from Democrats previews how they may try to hold members of the Trump administration accountable if they take the majority after the midterms. It also highlights how the party has embraced the course confrontations common from Cabinet member testimony during the second Trump administration. Booker had called Patel a “thug” who targets reporters and their families when they write stories critical of him and the broader Trump administration and who investigated a journalist after writing a story on his girlfriend. When Grassley asked Booker to wrap up his comments, Booker said Grassley wasn’t being equitable with members’ time to speak. “He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of doing keg stands and chugging with friends,” Booker said. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) questions FBI Director Kash Patel about the use of FBI resources and accused Patel of retaliating against the media. Booker went on to clash with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) at the hearing. Huffington Post A Heated Exchange Between Patel, Sens. Cory Booker, and Chuck Grassley September 16, 2026 Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) accused Patel of abusing his role as FBI director and of “stonewalling” the committee over questions about using the FBI to go after reporters who have put out stories unfavorable to him. The New York Times reported in April that the FBI investigated its reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, after she reported that Patel spent agency money on her to protect her and drive her around. Booker also referenced another instance where New York Times reporters were served with grand jury subpoenas after reporting on security issues with Trump’s Qatari-gifted new Air Force One plane. “It is interesting that he is using resources from the FBI in a way that he’s not willing to be transparent and open about,” Booker said. “The message that every reporter in America is getting right now is that we have an FBI director that is attacking the most vaunted of our amendments, which is our first one: freedom of the press. If you write about this director, this FBI will run your name through government databases. That’s not law enforcement. That is this man before us using a police agency to settle personal grievances about a story that embarrassed him. Daily Kos Sen. Cory Booker lays into FBI Director Patel AND his GOP colleagues during Tuesday hearing By: Janesaunt, Democratic Party Spotlight September 15, 2026 Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel. When it was time for Sen. Booker’s questioning things got a little heated. By then Patel was getting tired of being in the hot seat and Booker DID NOT CARE. The questioning starts out with Booker asking Patel about a New York Times article that said an FBI Swat Team was driving his girlfriend. Director Patel tried to pretend that Sen. Booker was questioning his relationship, which was obviously not what was asked. The question was did Patel ask agents to search federal databases about the reporter. No surprise that Patel refused to answer the question Booker also brought up the story about the prez sneaking off of the fake Air Force 1 to a smaller jet, and the FBI searching records for the reporters that broke that story. Not only did they search recent records, and subpoena reporters and their families, according to Sen. Booker, but records going back to January 2026, adding, “The Judge admonished you for this! The Judge saw it for what it was, an abuse of power The Wrap “This is a mockery and a sham,” Booker says of the FBI director’s oversight hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee September 16, 2026 Booker: “My concluding remark is: We don’t have an FBI director, we have a lackey here who’s using government – and frankly, he’s not even a good lackey, he’s an incompetent lackey,” Booker : “He’s like an 18-year-old kid who wants to join a fraternity that he could never be a member of, doing keg stands and chugging with friends. He’s an embarrassment to the agency and wouldn’t qualify even to be an FBI agent. He won’t answer questions for a committee. He insults Democrats here, and you don’t step in. He has a little book by his side that he literally is using to try to intimidate people, in the same way he intimidates reporters.”