Donald Trump announced Saturday that he plans to name longtime loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director, who would replace the current FBI director Chris Wray.
“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials,” he added. “This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border. Kash will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.”
Patel is a staunch Trump loyalist who has railed against the so-called ‘deep state’. He played a key role in trying to discredit investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Patel previously served as a U.S. National Security Council official and chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense.
Patel also wrote a children’s book titled “The Plot Against The King,” about a king (Trump) facing threats from characters named after prominent Democratic figures like “Hillary Queenton.”
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe previously told CNN that the bureau would be in a dangerous position with Patel at its helm.
“No part of the FBI’s mission is safe with Kash Patel in any position of leadership in the FBI, and certainly not in the deputy director’s job,” McCabe said. “The scope of authority is enormous.”
“If you enter into that position with nothing more than a desire to disrupt and destroy the organization, there is a lot of damage someone like Kash Patel could do,” McCabe added.
It remains unclear whether Patel could be confirmed, even by a Republican-led Senate, though Trump has signaled he is open to using recess appointments to push some of his more controversial nominees through.
