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Kash Patel Selected as FBI Chief
Kash Patel, chosen by President Donald Trump to head the FBI, presented himself on Thursday as the ideal leader for a law enforcement agency he claimed had eroded public trust, assuring senators he would dedicate himself to “due process and transparency” if approved as director.
During his confirmation hearing, Kash Patel prepared for intense scrutiny from Senate Democrats regarding his allegiance to the president and his stated aim to reform the bureau. He is a Trump supporter who, prior to his nomination to head the FBI, criticized the agency for its probes into the president and claimed that the Jan. 6 rioters were unfairly treated by the Justice Department.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the leading Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that the FBI plays an essential role in protecting America from terrorism, violent crime, and various other threats, as well as the nation, “needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances.”
Kash Patel was appointed in November to take over from Christopher Wray, who headed the top federal law enforcement agency for over seven years but was ousted from the position Trump had given him after being perceived as not loyal enough.
A past assistant to the House Intelligence Committee and a former federal prosecutor from Trump’s initial administration, Kash Patel has shocked critics with his language — in numerous podcasts and books he has written — showcasing loyalty to Trump and criticizing the choices made by the agency he is now tasked with leading.
He has also named officials whom he thinks ought to be investigated.
Kash Patel in Podcast
In one such podcast interview last year, he said that if he oversaw the FBI, he would “shut down” the bureau’s headquarters building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state.’”
“And I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to go chase down criminals. Go be cops,” he added.
In a Wednesday night opinion article for the Wall Street Journal, Kash Patel did not respond to several of his more provocative remarks or criticisms of the FBI, only stating that his experience as a House staffer examining issues in the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe had revealed to him how “the FBI’s immense powers can be abused.”
“I spearheaded the investigation that found the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — a tool I had previously used to hunt down terrorists — had been unlawfully used to spy on political opponents,” he wrote. “Such misconduct is unacceptable and undermines public trust.”
Kash Patel committed to transparency if appointed as director and stated he would exclude the FBI from prosecutorial decisions, retaining them with lawyers from the Justice Department.
“First, let good cops be cops,” Kash Patel wrote in outlining his priorities. “Leadership means supporting agents in their mission to apprehend criminals and protect our citizens. If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission.”
Patel connected with Trump due to their mutual distrust of government surveillance and the “deep state” — a derogatory term employed by Trump to describe government bureaucracy.
He was among a small group of supporters at Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York who went with him to the courthouse, where he informed reporters that Trump was the target of a “unconstitutional circus.”
That strong connection would diverge from the current trend of FBI directors aiming to maintain distance from presidents.
Multiple Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee, including Durbin from Illinois, who have spoken with Patel, have released statements expressing concerns and indicating their disapproval of the nomination. The legislators hinted at their interest in Patel by asking Pam Bondi, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, several questions about him during her confirmation hearing this month.
Republican supporters of Trump, who align with the president’s view that the FBI has become politicized, have united behind Patel and promised their support, viewing him as a figure capable of reforming the bureau and delivering essential change.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican leader of the committee, aimed to alleviate criticism of Patel in advance by emphasizing the necessity to reform an FBI that he claimed had become politicized.
In recent years, the FBI has found itself involved in many politically sensitive investigations, including the two federal probes into Trump that led to indictments, as well as investigations concerning President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
“It’s no surprise that public trust has declined in an institution that has been plagued by abuse, a lack of transparency, and the weaponization of law enforcement,” Grassley said. “Nevertheless, the FBI remains an important, even indispensable institution for law and order in our country.”
He later added: “Mr. Patel, should you be confirmed, you will take charge of an FBI that is in crisis.”
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