On September 17, 2025 Representative Eric Swalwell stood up at a House hearing and demanded that FBI Director Kash Patel promise to recuse himself from any probe of people named in Patel’s book and appendix — a spectacle meant to score headlines rather than defend the rule of law. The exchange came amid a broader, heated interrogation of the FBI’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, when Democrats tried to paint the director as politically compromised.
Patel’s book, Government Gangsters, published in 2023, openly called out what he describes as a permanent bureaucracy that subverts elected leaders, and even included an appendix identifying officials he says were part of that problem. That frankness is exactly what has Republicans cheering and Democrats sputtering — calling naming names a supposed abuse while pretending the permanent political class has no accountability.
When Swalwell asked the FBI director if he would recuse himself from any investigations involving people singled out in the book, Patel refused and pushed back hard, telling Swalwell the question had already been answered and forcefully rejecting the premise that he would be guided by politics. The back-and-forth turned personal and testy, and it revealed more about Democratic theatrics than about any principled concern for impartial law enforcement.
Let’s be blunt: Swalwell’s recusal demand was political theater. For years, too many in Washington have been shielded from scrutiny by the very institutions sworn to serve the people, and when someone dares to name the problem they are treated as the problem. Real oversight means following evidence wherever it leads — not sanctifying a class of political operatives who have too often acted with impunity.
If Democrats want a neutral justice system, they should stop weaponizing recusal demands as a shield for their allies and start defending impartial institutions for all Americans. The American people are tired of double standards where connections and status decide whether someone faces accountability, and they rightly expect an FBI that protects victims and pursues wrongdoing without fear or favor.
Make no mistake: both sides should fear politicized law enforcement, but the performative outrage from Swalwell and his allies rings hollow when set against a track record of protecting a political class. Patriots who love this country want our institutions restored, not used as tools for partisan cover-ups; that is why many Americans support an FBI director willing to call out corruption and defend victims, whether the accused wear a D or an R.
Congress should stop the kabuki theater, let the professionals do their jobs, and hold every official to the same standard — no special treatment, no soft pedestals for political elites. If that means uncomfortable investigations for some on either side of the aisle, so be it; the alternative is a country where the powerful are above the law and the rest of us pay the price.
