Donald Trump said he will nominate Kash Patel as the incoming administration’s next FBI Director. Patel is a popular figure in Conservative media with a history serving Trump during his first term. Patel is known as an anti-establishment figure in Washington, D.C.
“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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The FBI Director is the primary supervisor and manager of the FBI, which is described as the investigative arm of the Department of Justice. The FBI is responsible for federal criminal investigations and has become increasingly involved in intelligence gathering and surveillance, being described as having the broadest investigative powers in the federal government.
If confirmed by the Senate, and after Trump fires the sitting FBI director Christopher Wray, Patel will have a 10-year term as FBI Director and will be a critical part of the Trump administration. Patel will likely act as the enforcer of Trump’s policies for the FBI.
Vision
Patel has made clear that he wants to cut and slash the FBI radically, looking to decrease the agency’s spending and influence and return it to more essential criminal prosecutions. He has spoken extensively on his view that the FBI has become corrupt and needs to be reformed.
“I’d shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one 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 chase down criminals,” Patel said.
Patel has also railed against government abuse of surveillance powers, within the FBI and elsewhere. Patel claims that the powers that were originally meant for American safety have been abused by corrupt officials for political reasons.
Patel has specifically highlighted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the Federal Government to survey foreign threats to the U.S. with a warrant, as a specific example of a federal surveillance tool being turned on Americans.
“There’s another application of FISA called 702 … it’s just another vector into how we collect certain data … we’re not supposed to use it here in the United States of America. Chris Ray was caught last year illegally using 702 collection methods against Americans 274,000 times,” Patel said.
Patel wants a sweeping reform of FISA. Likewise, Patel wants to reform many things in the intelligence community.
Concerns
Some have brought up concerns that Patel will simply be a loyalist to Trump and help Trump enact political vengeance on his enemies. Some critics have also said that Patel is underqualified for the job, having little direct experience in the FBI.
“We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in the government but in the media, yes we are going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens … whether it’s criminally or civilly we will figure that out,” Patel said.
Some have argued that Patel, if given the opportunity, will go after political enemies of Trump. Those who defend this position will claim that those enemies are legitimately corrupt and negative influences on American society and ought to be prosecuted.
It is unclear what exactly Patel will do in the position of FBI Director, and whether he will be the powerful driving reformer or the hand of retribution.
