‘Who Did Epstein Traffic Women To?’ House Oversight Grills FBI Director During Tense Testimony

FBI Director Kash Patel appeared before the House Oversight Committee on Sept. 17, facing lawmakers’ statements and questions for five hours.

Members on both sides of the aisle questioned him on a variety of topics, spanning from crime and immigration to the National Guard’s anticipated arrival in Memphis, illicit drugs, and agency leaks to the media.

Patel was extremely evasive on the topic of Jeffrey Epstein, effectively committing to the narrative that Epstein only trafficked women to himself.

“Who, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these young women to?” asked Rep. John Kennedy (R-LA).

“Himself. There is no credible information, none. If there were, I would bring the case yesterday – that he trafficked to other individuals”

KENNEDY: “Who, if anyone, did Epstein traffic these young women to?”

PATEL: “There is no credible information, none … that he trafficked to other individuals.” pic.twitter.com/KwE5mjENjy

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 16, 2025

In today’s hearing, I told FBI Director Kash Patel that we know FBI still has unreleased documents which contain 20 names of rich and politically connected men who Epstein trafficked girls and young women to.

FBI needs to release the Epstein files and investigate these men. pic.twitter.com/xe2Fy9s2Ow

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 17, 2025

MOSKOWITZ: Will you be opening up an investigation into the Epstein state for putting out a fake document with the president’s signature linking him to the world’s largest pedophile ring?

PATEL: On what basis?

M: They literally put out a fake document according to the… pic.twitter.com/mEC84pq4z2

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2025

At one point Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) played a clip of Patel from the past five years in which he repeatedly claims Epstein’s black book is under the direct control of the FBI Director.

Jamie Raskin shows Kash Patel videos of all the podcasts he’s been on for the last several years, where he repeatedly claims Epstein’s black book is under the direct control of the FBI Director.

This is the cover-up you get when you put a podcaster in charge. pic.twitter.com/meQbptlYqY

— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) September 17, 2025

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to the rescue with a series of rapid fire questions meant to highlight progress Patel has made within the agency:

BREAKING: Jim Jordan just asked Kash Patel a flurry of rapid fire questions and embarrassed every Democrat who has continuously smeared Kash’s performance at the FBI.

“Is the FBI still spying on parents at school board meetings?”

KASH: “No, sir.”

“Is the FBI still targeting… pic.twitter.com/52gToYqKkD

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 17, 2025

Here are five more takeaways from The Epoch Times;

1. 1,000 Agents From DC Deployed Across US

The FBI director said 1,000 agents from the headquarters in Washington have been permanently deployed across the United States.

This is in accordance with his promise on Sept. 12 to “let good cops be cops.”

“One-third of the FBI workforce resided in the National Capital Region before I got there. One-third of the crimes do not happen in Washington D.C., not anymore,” Patel told the committee.

“So 1,000 personnel of the FBI were deployed across this country on a permanent basis, and every single state in this union is getting a plus-up, not a reduction, a plus-up of 1,811 intel analysts and support staff, and that is why the crime rates are going down in record numbers.”

2. Cohen Praises Memphis Anti-Crime Efforts

FBI agents have also been deployed for special operations, such as Project Viper, which has been underway for several months in Memphis.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) asked Patel about his agency’s work with local law enforcement in the first phase of the federal anti-crime surge in Memphis and praised the director.

“You did a good job,” Cohen said. “The police director and the mayor told me … that has been helpful. The FBI worked with the police, and the FBI are trained in law enforcement. They know Miranda rights, they know how to do policing, and they do a good job working with the police.”

The lawmaker also expressed concern about the incoming National Guard and asked if it was necessary to do the work the FBI is doing.

Patel explained that he thought it was necessary to utilize National Guard members to have the manpower to establish physical perimeters around areas where criminal activity remains high.

He assured the congressman that the National Guard would not have control over his agents and that an interagency coalition featuring the heads of the U.S. Marshals, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security would remain in control.

However, the Democratic lawmaker remained concerned and said he hoped the deployment didn’t go ahead, citing that its members are not trained in law enforcement.

3. Patel Implies Comey Under Investigation

Patel told lawmakers that his bureau continues to investigate leaks of classified information to the media, including information relating to the prior Trump–Russia probe.

During an exchange with Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.), Patel said that “generally speaking, the leaks of classified information are detrimental to any work the FBI is doing.”

He also implied that former FBI Director James Comey may be under investigation for alleged leaks during his tenure.

“That entire matter is currently under investigation by the people at the FBI that handle leaks of classified information,” Patel said.

He also said that he was limited in what he was able to say specifically on the Comey allegations, “because of what the current status of those matters are with the FBI and the Department of Justice.”

4. Agents Who Improperly Use Surveillance Barred

The discussion of leaks transitioned to a discussion about what Cline said was the way past directors weaponized the surveillance inquiry process authorized under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The House Oversight Committee noted there had been hundreds of thousands of violations of the querying standards and asked Patel what action the FBI was taking to ensure that those abuses don’t occur in the future.

He responded that the FBI had a new auditing system that reviewed nearly 100 percent of that 702 query system, eliminating anyone who touched the database and “made a mistake, whether intentional or not.”

Patel noted that the FBI also identified a system that bans anyone who misuses the systems.

“You cannot have access to the 702 query system if you improperly query that system at all at any time in your career,” he said.

5. Top Chinese Official Contacted About Fentanyl

Patel was also questioned about the FBI’s ongoing efforts against drug trafficking across the nation and the foreign origins of illegal drugs, such as fentanyl.

He told lawmakers that he contacted a top Chinese law enforcement official on the issue of precursor chemicals that are used to produce fentanyl.

“The companies in China, mainland China, do produce the precursors and the cutting agents that they send, ship overseas, through various countries, into the Mexican drug cartels who produce it,” he said.

“So they basically are the cooks in terms of the ingredients.”

FBI DIRECTOR PATEL: 120 MILLION AMERICANS COULD HAVE DIED BY FENTANYL IF NOT FOR ME

Rep. Tiffany:

“Has there been a concomitant reduction or a reduction in the amount of fentanyl that is coming into America? “

FBI Director, Kash Patel:

“There has been a massive reduction… https://t.co/iN62Rx33Mo pic.twitter.com/ESwAC0Pmrv

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 17, 2025

Patel said he decided to “engage in a conversation to say, ‘Hey, can we have a certain number of these precursor chemicals listed in China so that they become illegal and illegal to trade.’”

The FBI director said the agency has been working with its counterparts in India, Guatemala, and other countries “because the transshipment routes of the precursors, the Mexican drug cartels have gotten creative and, instead of coming directly to America, are going into these countries.”

He credited the partnerships in helping to shut down “the ability to ship the precursors into those countries, which are ultimately destined to America.”