President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Kashyap “Kash” Patel—a lawyer and former Chief of Staff to the then Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller—to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
“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 said in his Truth Social post announcing the nomination on Nov. 30. “He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”
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If confirmed, Patel, 44, would replace FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017. Wray still has three years remaining in his 10-year term, so in order for Patel to take over, Wray would need to resign or be fired. Patel will also need to be confirmed by the now Republican-controlled Senate.
Speaking out via X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 1, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a Republican, said Wray had “failed at fundamental duties” of being the FBI director and argued it was time to “chart a new course” of “transparency and accountability.” Of Patel’s nomination, he added: “Kash Patel must prove to Congress he will reform and restore public trust in [the] FBI.”
Trump has shown special interest in the FBI and the position of FBI director after he fired former FBI Director James Comey in 2017 during a time when the agency was investigating the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. In Patel, though, Trump has appointed a potential director who has shown extreme loyalty to him.
Here is what to know about Patel in light of his prestigious nomination by Trump to lead America’s principal law enforcement agency.
Patel is not new to the Trump Administration
Prior to his stint in D.C., Patel was a public defender in Miami until he took a job with the Justice Department in 2014. During Trump’s first term, Patel served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council.
Patel previously served as Chief of Staff to the then Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. He also served as an aide to former California representative and House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes during the inquiry into the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
It was reported that before leaving office in early 2021, Trump had floated the idea of Patel being the FBI’s deputy director. However, in his 2022 memoir One Damn Thing After Another, former Attorney General William Barr wrote: “Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.”
After Trump left the White House, he seemingly maintained a close relationship with Patel. During the investigation into Trump’s classified documents, Patel refused to testify against Trump before a federal grand jury, asserting his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. (He did eventually testify, after the Justice Department granted him immunity).
Patel has called for a “comprehensive housecleaning” of the FBI
This nomination is in line with Trump’s plans to do a major overhaul of federal organizations, as Patel is known for his criticism of the FBI, and outlined in his 2023 book Government Gangsters his plans “to defeat the deep state.” In his book, he also reportedly argued that the FBI has “become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken.”
Patel has shared more plans in interviews over the past few years. In a conversation with the Shawn Ryan Show podcast, Patel said on “day one” he would “shut down” the FBI’s headquarters building and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state.’”
“And I’d take the seven thousand employees that work in that building and send them across America to go chase down criminals,” he continued.
In an interview last year with former White House Chief Strategist and right-wing agitator Steve Bannon (conducted before Bannon’s incarceration), Patel listened as Bannon said he thought Patel would be a future Patel CIA director. In response, Patel said he “will go out to find the conspirators not just in government but in the media.”
“Yes, we are gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” he continued, furthering Trump’s claims that the 2020 election—in which he lost to President Joe Biden—was “stolen.”
Patel’s life away from politics
Patel was born in Garden City, New York, to Indian immigrant parents. He dedicated his book Government Gangsters to his parents, writing thanks to them “for daring to cross the Earth in search of the American Dream.”
On his upbringing, he writes that his home was always “busy with my siblings, my parents, my dad’s eight brothers and sisters, and me all living in the same house.” He also says that he has a “very deep connection with India,” and was raised with the Hindu faith.
Patel completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Richmond in Virginia and then attended law School at Pace University in New York.
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