Senate Democrats accused FBI Director Kash Patel on Tuesday of abusing his post to intimidate journalists.

At the head of the federal law enforcement agency, Patel angrily rejected the accusations during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, praising the FBI's record in reducing violent crime, combating drug trafficking, and prosecuting fraud cases.

Patel and several Democratic senators exchanged sharp personal attacks during the tense, four-and-a-half-hour hearing.

"Like a bully, you are using your agency to go after journalists," said Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey. "Journalists wrote about the president, and your bureau went to their homes and subpoenaed their mothers."

"A journalist wrote about you, and your agency pulled her background records and opened an investigation," Booker said.

The FBI director called it a "total lie" that he used agency resources to target reporters.

In April, Patel filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic and the author of an article he described as a "malicious hit piece".

The article accused Patel of frequently drinking to excess and claimed he was in danger of losing his position as FBI director.

According to the cable news channel MS Now, the FBI opened an internal threat investigation regarding The Atlantic's report.

Since taking office as head of the federal law enforcement agency, Patel has been accused of conducting a purge of agents perceived as disloyal to President Donald Trump.

Among those dismissed were dozens of agents who worked on criminal cases brought against Trump after he left the White House in 2021.

When questioned on Tuesday by senators about these departures, Patel asserted that "there was no purge" and that the vast majority of the agents who left retired voluntarily.