US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday that 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 his Truth Social platform announcing the appointment.
He added that Patel “played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution. Kash did an incredible job during my First Term, where he served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials.”
“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,” concluded Trump.
Patel, a former public defender who rose to increasingly senior national security posts in the final year of Trump’s first term, has called for replacing “anti-democratic” civil servants in law enforcement and intelligence with “patriots” who he says will work for the American people.
During the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, Patel gained favor with Trump as a congressional staffer after drafting a memo detailing the FBI’s mistakes in how it obtained a warrant to conduct surveillance of a former Trump campaign volunteer.
An inspector general report later found fault with the FBI’s surveillance during the Russia investigation, but also found no evidence that federal authorities had acted in a politically partisan way.
During the closing months of Trump’s tenure, Trump proposed Patel to serve as the deputy CIA director or to take over the FBI. Then-CIA Director Gina Haspel to resign if Patel was installed and the attorney general at the time, William Barr, vehemently objected to the move as well, and it did not go through.