Donald Trump nominated Kash Patel to head the FBI, appointing a loyalist to head a U.S. law enforcement agency that the president-elect has long derided as corrupt.
Patel gained attention after expressing anger at the authorities’ investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. If confirmed, Mr. Patel is likely to renew his vendetta against these investigations.
He also criticized the agency’s actions to unfairly target Republicans.
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In her book, “Government Gangsters,” which President Trump has called “a blueprint for taking back the White House,” Patel supported calls to fire government employees who undermine the president’s policies.
“We must identify the people in our government who are paralyzing our constitutional republic,” Patel told the Conservative Party Political Action Conference in July.
Under the list of “top reforms to defeat the deep state” outlined in his book, Patel said he would “curb FBI leadership from engaging in political games” and expand the general counsel’s office. They are calling for the FBI to move its headquarters out of Washington to significantly downsize it. The FBI does not function solely as an investigative agency, but takes on “prosecutorial decision-making,” he said.
During the Trump administration, Patel held a number of temporary national security positions, including chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller in the final months of Trump’s term.
He also served as the senior director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council and as a senior advisor to Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence.
Patel has close ties to former Republican congressman Devin Nunes, who served as the House Intelligence Committee chairman and helped lead opposition to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. Ta.
Mr. Patel may face pushback from traditional Republican positions.
Gina Haspel, who led the CIA during Trump’s first term and worked for the agency for decades, threatened to resign in late 2020 when Trump tried to install Patel as his deputy, derailing the appointment, according to Axios. It is reported that.
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