Kash Patel was officially confirmed as the new FBI director on Thursday, marking the start of a transition in which the longtime adviser to President Trump is expected to lead significant changes within the bureau.
The Senate voted 51-49 in favor of Patel’s appointment for a 10-year term, with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining 47 Democrats to oppose the nomination.
Trump has indicated that Patel, 44, will work to overhaul the bureau and depoliticize its decision-making processes, following a series of controversies involving allegations of bias against Republicans.
“I think Kash is going to do great,” Trump remarked during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that aired on Tuesday. “I think they have to do great or we have a problem. But when you look at what they did, the raid of Mar-a-Lago — you look at what they did, their reputation is shot.”
Patel navigated his confirmation hearing without issue last month, despite Democratic senators focusing much of their questions on accusations that he had shown sympathy toward those involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
During the hearing, Patel committed to reforming the bureau rather than dismantling it, despite calls from some of Trump’s closest allies to disband the FBI following the August 2022 raid on Trump’s Florida residence.
Patel said, “I would make sure we don’t have 100,000 rapes in this country next year, make sure we don’t have 100,000 drug overdoses from Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroin, and make sure we don’t have 17,000 homicides.”
“Those numbers need to be cut in half immediately,” he added. “And the public will regain trust in the FBI and law enforcement.”
Before his time in federal service, Patel worked as a public defender in Florida for 12 years, followed by a role as a trial attorney in the Justice Department from 2014 to 2017.
He later held several key positions in both the congressional and executive branches during Trump’s first term, including chief of staff to the defense secretary and principal deputy to the director of national intelligence.
Christopher Wray, the former FBI director, resigned on January 19, just one day before Trump took office as the 47th president, after it became clear that Trump intended to replace him.
Wray had overseen investigations into Trump, and his leadership faced criticism from congressional Republicans, especially after it was revealed that he had misrepresented his schedule in order to skip an oversight hearing.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department accused the acting FBI leadership of “insubordination” in a review of the alleged “weaponization” of law enforcement under former President Joe Biden. Patel is expected to collaborate closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi on addressing these concerns.
Trump has repeatedly accused the FBI of politicizing its investigations, including two criminal cases against him regarding the alleged mishandling of classified documents and his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
During Trump’s presidency, evidence surfaced suggesting that some top FBI officials involved in the investigation into alleged Russian collusion during the 2016 election had a personal bias against him.
Peter Strzok, the top counterintelligence official who opened the investigation, exchanged anti-Trump messages with his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, where they referred to Trump as an “idiot” and a “loathsome human.” They also discussed the probe as an “insurance policy” in case Trump won the election.
Last year, the Biden Justice Department reached an agreement to pay $1.2 million to Strzok and $800,000 to Page to settle lawsuits claiming that their privacy was violated due to the public release of their private messages.
{Matzav.com}