(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the F-B-I was infected with politics when F-B-I director Kash Patel took over in February. Patel appeared before Grassley and the Senate Judiciary Committee today (Tuesday). “Since your confirmation you’ve been acquainted with the bureaucracy that you must reform and hold accountable,” Grassley said, “and that’s no simple task.”

Grassley says whistleblowers in the F-B-I along with records about an operation called “Arctic Frost” suggest the agency’s investigation of the January 6th riot at the U-S Capitol targeted 92 Republican groups. “Arctic Frost wasn’t just a case to politically investigate Trump,” Grassley said shortly after convening today’s hearing. “It was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could achieve their partisan ends and improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus.”

Grassley and a fellow Republican senator from Wisconsin are also calling on Patel to reveal whether the F-B-I has investigated allegations some confidential F-B-I sources made against President Biden. “We aren’t saying the allegations are true. We want to know what the FBI did to fully investigate their veracity or lack thereof, and what they concluded,” Grassley said. “Let’s put this matter to rest, one way or the other.”

Democrats on the committee accused Patel of firing F-B-I agents for political reasons and questioned why more records about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein haven’t been released. Patel says the F-B-I has no credible information that Epstein trafficked women or underage girls to anyone but himself.

Patel also discussed his agency’s investigation of Charlie Kirk’s assassination during the hearing.