FBI director Kash Patel called Senator Adam Schiff a "political buffoon" during an explosive exchange on Capitol Hill.

Schiff used his time during a Senate Judiciary hearing to stoke speculation about the Epstein files, which is an issue that has preoccupied Democrats ever since the Justice Department announced it was closing the Epstein case in July.

Democrats have repeatedly accused President Trump of a cover-up.

Schiff on the spot

At Tuesday's hearing, Schiff asked Patel about the recent transfer of Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to a lower-security prison. The move came after Maxwell sat down for an interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Schiff was skeptical that the two events were unrelated.

"The Bureau of Prisons decided on their own, without any consultation with … anyone else that they will be suddenly, after this interview, completely unrelated to this interview, completely unrelated to anything she said, move her to a prison unsuitable for a sex offender. You want the American people to believe that? Do you think they’re stupid?” he asked Patel.

Shouting match

That's when the exchange devolved into a shouting match, as Patel ripped Schiff as a "fraud" and a liar who has weaponized intelligence in the past.

He recapped Schiff's prominent role in the "Russian collusion" saga, the January 6th investigation, and other highly partisan spectacles.

“We have countlessly proven you to be a liar in Russiagate, in Jan. 6. You are the biggest fraud to ever sit in the United States Senate, you are a disgrace to this institution and an utter coward,” Patel said.

“I’m not surprised that 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,” he added.

Shifty Schiff

Schiff became known as one of Trump's most vehement opponents during his first White House term, when Schiff - who earned nicknames from Trump like "Shifty Schiff" - repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that Trump had colluded with Russia.

At the time, Schiff was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Patel, then a committee staffer for Republican Devin Nunes, authored a memo that exposed the FBI's surveillance abuses in the Trump-Russia probe, which eventually ended without any evidence of collusion.

As FBI Director, Patel has continued to expose the shoddy origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. He recently shared a whistleblower allegation accusing Schiff of leaking intelligence in an effort to smear Trump as a Russian asset, an accusation Schiff denies.

During Tuesday's hearing, Patel also said Trump "courageously" brought charges against Epstein, while Democratic administrations did nothing. Epstein died in 2019, shortly after being charged with sex trafficking under the first Trump administration. Maxwell was also indicted during Trump's first term, but she did not go on trial until Biden was president.

"All you care about is a child sex predator that was prosecuted by a prior administration and the Obama Justice Department and the Biden Justice Department did squat!" Patel told Schiff.

"And what did President Trump do? Bring new charges, courageously."