BREAKING: @SenBlumenthal just asked Kash Patel what he's doing to investigate Don Jr.'s wedding being bankrolled by a Russian Oligarch with ties to child trafficking:
Blumenthal: We learned yesterday, to the astonishment and shock of many Americans, that a Russian oligarch bank rolled the wedding of the president's son with, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would like to know from you whether you have begun an investigation of potential intelligence compromises. This individual, Umar Kremlin, has direct ties to Vladimir Putin. It would seem an effort to curry favor with the president's family. It may involve some intelligence degradation, and I would like to know what steps you are taking to investigate.
Patel: I’m not sure what public reporting you're referring to. The only thing I can tell you is that the counterespionage arrests by this FBI are up 53%, including from Russia. We've arrested more espionage actors in these last 18 months than in any 18-month period in the FBI history, and we'll continue to investigate.
Blumenthal: Well, these reports were public yesterday. They've been widely publicized in the press, and it would seem to me that they should be a topic of investigation for the FBI. You have a counterintelligence mission. This individual has been involved, in fact, in the re-education of Ukrainian children. In my trips to Ukraine—I've done it 11 times—I've talked to many of those children who've been abducted by Putin's forces. This individual apparently is involved in those activities, but also is directly tied to Putin. And I think there's a potential for compromise in intelligence and also the possibility of improper influence.
Patel: As I stated, we are fulfilling our counterintelligence and espionage mission greater than any FBI has ever done.
Blumenthal: So, well, I want to know what specific steps you're doing, or referring to, to investigate this instance.
Patel: First of all, you're referring to something that happened yesterday in public reporting. And public reporting generally is inaccurate.