Kash Patel and Adam Schiff clash over Ghislaine Maxwell prison transfer

FBI Director Kash Patel sparred with Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Tuesday, escalating to the point where Patel labeled Schiff a “political buffoon.” 

The exchange occurred as Schiff pressed Patel for details on why the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell was transferred to a minimum security prison after U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell in Florida. The visit came after the Trump administration announced it would not unseal investigation materials concerning Epstein. 

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FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill Sept. 16, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As a result, Schiff asked Patel to clarify what prompted Maxwell’s transfer, and who made the decision to move her and why. When Patel said the Bureau of Prisons signed off on the move, Schiff cast doubt that it moved Maxwell independently and without any outside input, given the timeliness of Blanche’s meeting with Maxwell. 

“You want the American people to believe that?” Schiff said. “Do you think they’re stupid?”

“No, I think the American people believe the truth. That I’m not in the weeds on the everyday movements of inmates,” Patel said before members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “What I am doing is protecting this country, providing historic reform, and combating the weaponization of intelligence by the likes of you and we have callously proven you to be a liar in Russiagate, in January 6. You are the biggest fraud to ever the United States Senate. You are a disgrace to this institution and an utter coward.” 

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Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), joined by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), speaks at a press conference introducing the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025 on April 30, 2025, in Washington. 

“I’m not surprised,” Schiff said. 

“I’m not surprised,” Patel said. “You continue to lie from your perch and put on a show so you can go raise money for your charade. You are a political buffoon at best.” 

Maxwell has been convicted on charges including sex trafficking of a minor and is serving a 20-year sentence.

Maxwell was moved from a low-security facility in Tallahassee, Florida, to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas. The move has previously attracted scrutiny from lawmakers because Bureau of Prison policy mandates that those charged with sex offenses are placed in at least a low-security facility. 

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Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were both indicted on federal sex trafficking charges stemming from Epstein’s years of abuse of underage girls.  (Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)

The Department of Justice and the FBI announced in July the agencies would not publish new documents from the Epstein sex trafficking case, and that their review into Epstein is closed. 

The agencies said that they did not track down a list of sexual predators with connections to Epstein, and determined there were no new people who could face charges. 

Fox News Digital reached out to both Schiff and Patel for comment.