U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected former aide Kash Patel to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), an agency Patel has frequently criticized.
Patel, who served as the U.S. Department of Defense’s chief of staff during Trump’s first administration, has been a consistent supporter of the incoming Republican president.
For Patel to assume the position, current FBI Director Christopher Wray would need to resign or be dismissed, though Trump did not directly call for his resignation in his statement.
In a separate announcement, Trump revealed plans to nominate Chad Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, Florida, to head the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Patel and Chronister, along with Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, make up Trump’s law enforcement selections. All three nominations will require approval through a majority vote in the U.S. Senate.
Patel is a staunch Trump ally who shares the president-elect’s skepticism of government institutions.
“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 posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, adding that Patel was “an advocate for truth, accountability, and the constitution”.
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However, Kash Patel is considered a controversial figure by many Democrats and even some of Trump’s allies.
In the past, Patel has advocated for “dramatically” limiting the FBI’s authority. In his memoir, Government Gangsters, he called for the dismantling of what he described as “government tyranny” within the FBI, urging the removal of “the top ranks.”
Trump’s proposal would see Patel replace current FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed in 2017 for a standard 10-year term.
However, Wray fell out of favor with the president-elect after the FBI’s involvement in a federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified records, a case that was ultimately dropped.
In a statement following Trump’s announcement, the FBI said: “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.”
Lawmakers react to Patel pick
In the hours after Trump picked Patel, legislators in both parties expressed their support of Wray, the current FBI director.
“I think the president picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,” Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said on ABC News on Sunday.
“When we meet with him behind closed doors, I’ve had no objections to the way that he’s handled himself, and so I don’t have any complaints about the way that he’s done his job,” he said.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Wray was originally appointed by Trump, and that US President Joe Biden “didn’t fire him”.
“That’s how we approach things, and we would like to ensure that the FBI remains an independent institution insulated from politics,” he said.
Also on Meet the Press on Sunday, Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy went further, saying he was concerned that “Kash Patel is going to only care about protecting Republicans and not care about protecting every single member of the American population”.
Meanwhile, some Republicans voiced their immediate enthusiasm for Patel.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was staunch in his support. “Kash Patel has extensive experience in national security and intelligence. He is an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the FBI,” Johnson said.
Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, said on Sunday he had encouraged Trump to select Patel.
“There are serious problems at the FBI,” Hagerty said, also on Meet the Press. “The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.”
Patel, the son of Indian immigrants, is a former defense attorney and federal prosecutor who caught Trump’s attention after becoming senior counsel to the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in 2017.
In 2019, Trump hired him as a national security aide, and a year later, Patel was appointed chief of staff to the head of the Pentagon.
In addition to his 2023 memoir, Patel has authored two pro-Trump children’s books. One of the titles, The Plot Against the King, features a villain named Hillary Queenton attempting to overthrow King Donald, who is assisted by a wizard named Kash the Distinguished Discoverer.
Another antagonist in the book is Keeper Komey, a thinly-veiled reference to former FBI Director James Comey, along with his “spying slugs,” according to the book’s description.
Patel is outspoken against the so-called “deep state,” a term used by some Americans to describe a supposed unelected bureaucratic machine that secretly controls the country for nefarious purposes.
He has also criticized the media, calling it “the most powerful enemy the United States has ever seen.”
Patel is also on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns the social media platform Truth Social. Reports suggest he has a consulting contract with the company, earning at least $120,000 annually.
Chad Chronister, another appointee, brings extensive law enforcement experience. Having worked in Florida’s law enforcement for 32 years, Chronister has served as the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County since 2017.
On social media, Trump praised Chronister’s experience and reiterated his focus on drugs and the US border.
“As DEA Administrator, Chad will work with our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to secure the border, stop the flow of fentanyl, and other illegal drugs, across the southern border, and SAVE LIVES”, Trump wrote.
Writing on social media, Chronister said it was “the honor of a lifetime to be nominated” by Trump.