Trump picks Kash Patel to lead FBI

President Donald Trump announced Saturday night that he has picked staunch Trump loyalist Kash Patel as the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Patel, a Trump transition insider, has been one of Trump’s most visible and vocal allies, showing up at his criminal trial in Manhattan, perpetuating conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. He worked as chief of staff to the secretary of Defense during the first Trump administration, and has been outspoken about calling for a purge of Trump’s enemies from the Justice Department, FBI and other intelligence agencies.

Trump, in a post to Truth Social, called Patel a “brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”

“He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” the president-elect added, referring to the role Patel played as a staffer in crafting House Republican responses to the investigation into Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 election.

At the time, Patel was an aide to Republican Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), then the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, a position that helped raise his profile in Trump’s inner circle.

If confirmed, Patel will replace current FBI Director Chris Wray, whom Trump nominated in 2017 after firing James Comey, cutting his 10-year term short. Wray’s term is not set to expire until 2027, so Trump will have to fire Wray to install Patel, if Wray doesn’t resign first.

The FBI released a statement in response to the announcement, saying, “Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats. Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for.

Patel was angling to be deputy director of the CIA, a position that would not have required Senate confirmation, unlike the FBI director post, which does. It’s unclear whether Patel, who is a divisive figure even among Trump loyalists, will have the votes needed in the Senate to be confirmed.

When Trump floated naming Patel deputy director of the FBI during his first administration, then-Attorney General Bill Barr responded “over my dead body,” according to reporting at the time. CIA Director Gina Haspel also threatened to quit over the move.

Patel played roles in both sequences of events that led to special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal charges against Trump.

The Justice Department granted him limited immunity to testify in the case involving Trump’s decision to amass classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office.

And he testified to both the Jan. 6 committee and federal prosecutors about Trump’s discussions about deploying the National Guard in advance of the violence on Jan. 6, 2021.

And Patel was a witness in Trump’s defense at a Colorado trial over that determined Trump helped spark an insurrection on Jan. 6. Though the trial was an effort by some Trump adversaries to remove Trump from the ballot under the Constitution’s Insurrection Clause, the Supreme Court ultimately reversed the decision.

Patel is a former federal public defender and former federal prosecutor in the Justice Department’s national security division. A staunch Trump defender, Patel has been assisting the president-elect in compiling a list of candidates to join the Justice Department.

Patel has also promised to investigate and potentially prosecute journalists.

“We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out,” Patel said last year.

The president-elect also announced Chad Chronister, sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Chronister, a 32-year veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, joins a long line of Floridians Trump has picked to join his administration.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, said Chronister would work with Pam Bondi, his appointee for attorney general, to “secure the Border, stop the flow of Fentanyl, and other Illegal Drugs, across the Southern Border, and SAVE LIVES.”

Chronister was first appointed to the post by then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

Betsy Woodruff Swan contributed to this report.