Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) criticized Kash Patel as “unserious” after seeing his name written in the FBI director’s notes during an intense hearing over convicted sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein’s case files.At the September House Judiciary Committee hearing, where Patel was grilled over the FBI’s handling of the case, Getty Images photographer Win McNamee captured an image of Patel’s notes, which read: “Good fight with Swalwell. Hold the line,” and “Brush off their attacks. Rise above the next line of partisan attacks.”Swalwell told Spectrum News’ Cassie Semyon in an interview posted on Wednesday, “I don’t know if, like, he thought it was something that was, like, entertaining?” Remember this photo from FBI director Kash Patel's testimony before the House Judiciary committee? I asked Rep. Eric Swalwell about it during our interview on his new role as the ranking member of the new January 6th committee.Watch our full interview here:… https://t.co/QEHxlLgwxQ pic.twitter.com/YYn15pWZ56— Cassie Semyon (@casssemyon) October 8, 2025 The California Democrat, who prosecuted sex trafficking cases himself, said his “principal objective” was “understanding what is going on in the biggest sex trafficking case of the United States.” Patel “clearly chose to protect and defend Donald Trump,” rather than Epstein’s victims, Swalwell said, adding that Patel’s notes show “how unserious” he is.“I think about people who expect the FBI director to protect us from terrorism, to protect us from child sex trafficking, protect us from political corruption, and you see this, and it just reinforces that he’s probably not up for that job, and probably makes us all a lot less safer than we want to be,” the lawmaker said.Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Oct. 7, 2025. AP Photo/Jose Luis MaganaAttorney General Pam Bondi’s notes were also photographed when she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. Her notes could be seen in a close-up photo taken by Reuters’ Jonathan Ernst.Swalwell told Semyon on Monday that, at this point, he does not trust anything the Trump administration releases on the Epstein files, “but the victims deserve full transparency and accountability.”Close