CNN
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President Donald Trump is weighing pressure from right-wing allies to nominate Kash Patel to head the FBI, a move that would mean the president-elect fires Director Christopher Wray before the end of his 10-year term. It is one of the clearest indications that he plans to stick to his pledge to replace him. Along with the loyalists.
The interest in Patel comes after the selection of Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, as well as the president’s demands for top law enforcement and intelligence positions and specific investigations. It speaks to President Trump’s urge to fill it with supporters willing to carry it out. It could also inoculate the president against future investigations.
Trump has been bitter about his time as special counsel during his first term and the four criminal charges he faced after leaving office.
The race to become the next administration’s prime minister continues at Mar-a-Lago, with former Republican congressman Mike Rogers, former acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan and Jeff Jensen among others for the FBI’s top spot. The names are also listed. , a former St. Louis U.S. attorney who led the review of Gen. Mike Flynn’s guilty plea, leading to the dismissal of the case.
Even among Trump supporters, Patel is widely seen as a controversial figure and relentless self-promoter, whose value derives largely from their shared disdain for the so-called deep state. He has lobbied for the FBI position, including speaking directly to President Trump about his position in the administration, but also pushed for the CIA director position, eventually replacing John Ratcliffe, according to people familiar with the matter. has been appointed.
Regardless of who Trump chooses, it is clear that the next president will be exploring options to shorten Wray’s 10-year term. Trump nominated Wray in 2017 after firing James Comey, but he began to dislike Wray even before he left office in 2021. Mr. Trump’s view of the FBI as being suspected of storing classified documents has worsened since the August 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort and subsequent indictment of Mr. Trump.
The 10-year term is intended to insulate the FBI director’s position from political whims.
“President-elect Trump is in the process of deciding who will serve in his second administration,” said Caroline Leavitt, Trump-Vance transition press secretary. “Those decisions will be announced as soon as they are made.”
A spokeswoman for Mr. Patel declined to comment. Mr. Jensen, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Morgan all declined to comment.
Multiple sources familiar with Trump’s transition process have expressed deep concerns about Patel’s potential appointment as FBI director, saying she is concerned about investigating Trump’s political opponents, declassifying classified information, and pursuing career-related issues. It would be in a favorable position to carry out measures such as purging civil servants.
“Kash is a formidable figure within the bureau,” said one person familiar with internal deliberations about the FBI director’s role.
Patel accused law enforcement and intelligence agencies of illegally retaliating against Trump without evidence.
“One of the things we learned at the beginning of the Trump administration is that we have to hire American patriots from the top to the bottom,” Patel said on Steve Bannon’s Right Wing podcast last year. That’s true.” “We got them for law enforcement, we got them for intelligence gathering, we got them for offensive operations, we got them for the Department of Defense, we got them for the CIA, we got them for everywhere. .”
Patel rose to prominence within President Trump’s orbit in 2018 when she served as an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, then the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. In 2019, Patel became a member of the National Security Council under Trump and later became chief of staff to the acting defense secretary during Trump’s final months.
After the 2020 election, when President Trump sought to release more information about the Russia investigation, Patel was mentioned as a possible replacement when he considered firing then-CIA Director Gina Haspel. President Trump also briefly considered making Patel deputy director of the FBI during the final weeks of his first administration. The FBI deputy director position is a career position, not a political appointment, and Attorney General William Barr helped persuade President Trump not to appoint Patel as deputy director.
Amid speculation about his future, Ray was trying to create an atmosphere of business as usual. After the inauguration, he and his staff continue to plan events on the calendar through early 2025, according to officials briefed on the matter.
This suggests that Wray has no plans to leave unless President Trump orders otherwise.
Whenever asked about the political turmoil surrounding the FBI and its investigations, Wray has emphasized that his focus is on the FBI’s efforts to enforce the law without regard to partisan politics.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kristen Holmes and Manu Raju contributed to this report.
