FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with Democrats on Tuesday at a fiery Senate hearing during which he was accused of purging the bureau's ranks of agents perceived of being disloyal to Republican President Donald Trump.

Patel also defended his handling of two high-profile cases: last week's murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and the probe into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Senator Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, accused Patel of inflicting "untold damage on the FBI" and putting national security and public safety at risk with an "unprecedented purge of FBI officials."

Democratic Senator Cory Booker said the mass firings of FBI agents who worked on past criminal cases brought against Trump had "made our country weaker and less safe" and predic

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