Free Republic

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Monday pushed an anonymous smear about Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director nominee Kash Patel just days ahead of his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Durbin, in a letter sent to Trump administration officials dated January 27, 2025, said he received “highly credible information” that Patel “broke protocol” regarding hostage rescues when he commented to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) “without authorization” about a successful hostage rescue during the first Trump administration in October 2020. […] Durbin said his office received allegations that “Mr. Patel inserted himself inappropriately in a hostage recovery mission and violated these...

Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked a suite of agencies that previously employed Kash Patel to turn over information on possible misconduct of President-elect Trump’s controversial pick to lead the FBI. The letters lay out a series of allegations, including that Patel pushed to stop transition coordination with the incoming Biden administration, sought to declassify information that would be favorable to Trump, and was identified as a helpful figure for the man leading Trump’s efforts to thwart the transfer of power after losing the 2020 election. “The Director must be able to execute...

Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) refused to “get into the hypotheticals,” when asked if he would vote to expel Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) if he is convicted at his federal corruption trial. Durbin said, “I’m not going to get into the hypotheticals on either of these situations. As I said, several steps removed. I’m hopeful that when all is said and done that Bob Menendez will be returning to the Senate representing the state of New Jersey.

The 28 percent of Democrats who oppose abortion have no place in the Democratic party, according to two of the party’s leading figures. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin echoed party chair Tom Perez Sunday in saying that there is no room in the party for dissent on the abortion issue. “I am committed to women’s rights under the law, reproductive rights certainly, and our party is [committed],” Durbin said in an appearance on CNN. “We’ve made that part of our platform and position for a long, long time. I know within the ranks of the Democratic Party there are those who...