By Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writer
President-elect Donald Trump has announced the nomination of former public defender Kash Patel to serve as FBI director in his administration.
“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Trump wrote in a post on social media on Saturday. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice, and protecting the American people.”
Patel, who served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense during Trump’s first term in office, has been critical of the way the FBI operates. In a recent interview, Patel said he would shut down the bureau’s headquarters in Washington, and turn it into a museum, relocating the agency to outside the Beltway.
“I’d shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen 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 chase down criminals,” he said.
Trump said that Patel played a key role in revealing what he described as the Russia collusion “hoax” and that he would 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,” Trump wrote.
“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 reacted to the news in a brief post on social media: “Thank you Everyone #Victory.”
In his upcoming role, pending Senate confirmation, Patel will work closely with Bondi, who was recently nominated by Trump to lead the Justice Department.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, recently told Fox News that he would back Patel, describing him as a “great” and “smart” candidate who “knows a lot about law enforcement.”
“He’s loyal to the president. And those are pretty much the top requirements,” he said.
Patel is aligned with Trump’s view that the nation’s law enforcement and national security agencies require a thorough overhaul to address perceived bias and to hold them accountable for what Trump and his allies have described as unwarranted investigations and prosecutions.
In his bestselling memoir titled “Government Gangsters,” Patel describes the current political moment as a “battle between the people and a corrupt ruling class,” identifying key figures and strategies he believes have been used by this permanent government bureaucracy to undermine elected officials and shift power away from voters.
The book has been endorsed by Trump, who described it as a “brilliant roadmap highlighting every corrupt actor, to ultimately return our agencies and departments to work for the American People.”
Trump’s nomination of Patel as the next FBI director signals a challenge to what critics have increasingly referred to as a “two-tier system of justice” within the federal government. Patel’s record of exposing corruption and advocating for structural reforms within national security agencies aligns with Trump’s stated vision of dismantling what he describes as the entrenched “deep state.”
Current FBI Director Christopher Wray has served in that role since 2017 after Trump fired James Comey and nominated Wray for the job. Prior to that, Wray served as a federal prosecutor and a Justice Department official. Normally, FBI directors are selected to serve 10 years, meaning Wray would not have to step down until 2027.
If confirmed, Patel’s tenure could mark a significant shift in the culture and operations at the FBI.
