Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Nominee To Be Assistant Attorney General For Newly Established National Fraud Enforcement Division At DOJ

Durbin: “Trump appointees have contributed to the waste, fraud, and abuse by misusing government resources and taxpayer dollars for their own benefit.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nomination of Colin McDonald to be the Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, a newly established division at the Department of Justice (DOJ). Last week, Durbin and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi about the proposed new Division.** **In the letter, the Senators asked about the new Division’s operations, staffing, and enforcement responsibilities and priorities. Additionally, they requested clarification on comments from Vice President Vance about the Division being “run out of the White House,” which puts the new Division’s prosecutorial independence and insulation from political interference into question.

During his opening, Durbin also highlighted new whistleblower information he received regarding Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel’s excessive use of FBI aircraft for personal travel. These disclosures were provided after Patel was spotted celebrating with the U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey Team shortly after their win over Canada in the gold medal game. The credible whistleblowers told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Patel’s excessive misuse and mismanagement of FBI-controlled aircraft and resources impacted or delayed high-profile investigations, including the Charlie Kirk and Brown University shootings.

Key Quotes:

“Over the last year, the Trump Administration has systematically dismantled Justice Department offices responsible for rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal programs. It has done the same with components that police fraud against consumers and investors.”

*“Last April, Attorney General Bondi disbanded the team responsible for prosecuting cryptocurrency crimes. Last September, she dissolved the Consumer Protection Branch in the Department of Justice, which enforced federal laws prohibiting fraud against consumers.” *

“The Administration also did away with the Justice Department’s Tax Division, which was established a century ago by Robert Jackson and led efforts to prosecute tax fraud. And the Attorney General has gutted the Public Integrity Section, [which is] responsible for enforcing laws against public corruption.”

“None of this comes as a surprise. Because the worst examples of waste, fraud, and abuse in recent years are coming from inside the Trump Administration. Want to root out fraud? Start at the top… Fraudsters who have made huge contributions to the President have regularly been rewarded with pardons.”

“In April 2024, the founder of Binance was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a $50 million fine for his role in a money laundering scheme. He then brokered a deal to channel $2 billion into the Trump family’s crypto business. President Trump pardoned him. Just this week, we learned that Binance accounts have funneled about $1.7 billion to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups. But the Trump family’s crypto company, World Liberty Financial, continues to partner with Binance.”

*“Trump appointees have contributed to the waste, fraud, and abuse by misusing government resources and taxpayer dollars for their own benefit.” *

“FBI Director Kash Patel has shamelessly exploited the FBI’s private government jet to support his jet-setting lifestyle, including for a golf getaway in Scotland and to watch his girlfriend perform at a wrestling match.”

“Most recently, he flew to Italy to chug beers with the U.S. Olympic hockey team. As a whistleblower told the Committee, the tone was set early in Director Patel’s tenure when he told FBI agents, ‘If you have golf, hockey, fishing, or hunting and beautiful sights, you’re going to see a lot of me.’”

“There are many unanswered questions about the so-called National Fraud Enforcement Division… Justice Department officials cannot agree whether the Division will absorb staff and resources from the existing Civil and Criminal Division fraud offices or whether it will hire new staff.”

“We should not move ahead with this nominee when such questions [are] unanswered.”

Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available __here.__

Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available __here.__

Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

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