President Donald Trump has selected Kashyap “Kash” Patel to head the FBI, bringing a loyalist and “deep state” critic to head a federal law enforcement agency that the president-elect has long accused of being corrupt. was nominated.
Patel, 44, has worked as a federal prosecutor and public defender, and has become a hot topic in Trump circles after expressing anger over the agency’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Became famous. He called for the removal of FBI leadership as part of an effort to “bring federal law enforcement into a corner.”
If confirmed, Patel will replace FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom President Trump appointed in 2017 after firing James Comey over the FBI’s Russia collusion investigation.
Mr. Comey later testified to Congress that although there was no evidence of collusion, the FBI had “reasons to investigate” the matter.
Patel had ties to former Republican lawmaker Devin Nunes, who led the opposition to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation while serving as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
In announcing his nomination to head the FBI, President Trump said in a statement posted on Truth Social that Patel is “an accomplished lawyer who has spent his career exposing corruption, upholding justice, and protecting the American people.” He is an investigator and an ‘America First’ fighter.”
“Mr. Kash will work under our great Attorney General Pam Bondi to restore loyalty, courage, and integrity to the FBI,” Trump added.
President Trump noted Patel’s accomplishments during his first term as chief of staff, deputy director of national intelligence, and senior counterterrorism director on the National Security Council.
Mr. Patel “played a pivotal role in debunking Russia, Russia, and Russian disinformation, and served as a champion of truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” he said.
“This FBI will end America’s growing crime epidemic, dismantle immigrant criminal organizations, and stop the evil scourge of cross-border human and drug trafficking,” he said.
If confirmed by the Senate – Gina Haspel, the CIA director during President Trump’s first term, reportedly threatened to resign in 2020 when Trump tried to install Patel as vice president – Patel He is likely to be a loyal surrogate for Trump, who wants to see the reforms the next president envisions. Washington bureaucratic overreach.
Patel told the Conservative Political Action Conference in July that there was a need to “identify the people in government who are paralyzing our constitutional republic.”
President Trump called Patel’s 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” a “blueprint to take back the White House” that advocated firing government employees who undermine the president’s policies.
The reforms Patel outlined in his book to “defeat the deep state” include moving FBI headquarters out of Washington to “curb FBI leadership from engaging in political gamesmanship,” and This includes reducing the office of the general counsel, which he claims was assumed based on the prosecutor’s decision. make”.
