President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Kash Patel to lead the FBI.
Trump announced the appointment on Saturday evening.
“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 on Truth Social. “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.”
A conspiracy theorist who wants to restrain federal law enforcement agencies, Patel has advocated for firing workers and going on a prosecution spree to fulfill Trump’s promise of retribution. He is a Trump loyalist who has railed against the so-called “Deep State.” Even among the most staunch MAGA loyalists, he is viewed as a controversial figure.
He previously served as chief of staff at the Department of Defense during Trump’s first term, in addition to deputy director of National Intelligence, and senior director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. If all of Trump’s nominees are confirmed, Patel will be working under Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump appointed as US attorney general.
On Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast last year, Patel said a team of “all-American patriots” in all levels of government in the next Trump administration will “come after” members of the press that he claims have “lied about American citizens” and “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”
“We’re going to come after you, whether it’s criminal or civilly, we’ll figure that out,” said Patel, who joined the Trump administration in 2019.
“We’re putting you all on notice,” he added. “And Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why we’re tyrannical. This is why we’re dictators, because we’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.”
This is a developing story…
