Trump appoints his long-time ally Kash Patel as FBI chief – putting Christopher Wray under scrutiny

WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Kash Patel to head the FBI, closing one of the last remaining presidentially appointed positions two months before he takes office – and putting current FBI chief Christopher Wray’s tenure under scrutiny before his term expires placed.

“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 wrote on Truth Social on Saturday evening.

“He played a critical role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax and stood as a champion of truth, accountability and the Constitution,” he continued.

“This FBI will end America’s growing crime epidemic, dismantle criminal migrant gangs, and end the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the border. Kash will work under the leadership of our great Attorney General Pam Bondi to restore loyalty, bravery and integrity to the FBI.”

The announcement came after Trump spent years feuding with Wray, whom he appointed to lead the bureau in August 2017 after firing James Comey.

Wray cited the president-elect’s anger over what the 78-year-old Trump saw as political investigations against him, including the Mar-a-Lago raid in which he was later indicted for allegedly storing classified documents then the question of whether Trump had been hit by a bullet at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a suspected assassin shot him in the ear.

Trump claimed the FBI director’s comments proved that “he knows nothing about the terrorists and other criminals pouring into our country in record numbers.”

The former and future president has also accused Wray of “lying to Congress” about his awareness of President Joe Biden’s cognitive and physical decline.

Wray, whose 10-year term doesn’t expire until 2027, would have to resign or be fired to create a vacancy for Patel.

“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing number of threats,” the FBI said in a statement to CBS.

“Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we work with and the people we work for.”

Longtime loyalist

Patel brings extensive experience as a former public defender and later attorney for the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and served in multiple intelligence and national security roles in the President-elect’s first administration.

He was seen as a leading candidate in the MAGA camp, which is hoping he can shake up the office and reverse its track record of targeting conservatives in the Trump era.

The New York native is known for his deep loyalty to Trump – which has made him a target of the left, despite serving as a National Security Council official, senior adviser to the acting Director of National Intelligence, and later as chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense of the United States .

Patel, who must win Senate confirmation to become FBI director, was one of the leading Republicans to oppose the investigation into Trump and Russian interference in 2016 and has long opposed government overreach in Republican surveillance their federal agents had said.

He has written about the need to dismantle the Justice Department and overhaul the intelligence agencies, including the FBI, by firing their “top brass” and prosecuting “to the fullest extent of the law” anyone who “abuses their services in any way.” Authority for political purposes.”

“The FBI is so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic action is taken,” Patel wrote in his book “Government Gangsters,” which Trump praised as a “blueprint” for his next term.

In his podcast Thursday, Patel said Trump “can reveal the documents these people have been writing for decades, enabling (their) corrupt activities.”

“He’ll come in there and maybe give them the Epstein list and maybe the P. Diddy list,” Patel added, referring to Jeffrey Epstein’s shadowy sex trafficking ring and the disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, against whom The indictment faces broad charges of racketeering and sex trafficking.

That loyalty infuriated Democrats, and countless talking heads emerged on left-leaning networks to disparage him.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe warned against Patel, claiming on CNN Thursday that “no part of the FBI mission is safe with Kash Patel in any leadership position at the FBI.”

“It is inconceivable to me that an outsider with no experience in the organization, no knowledge of the work there and the scope of the powers involved could provide an adequate performance,” fumed McCabe, whom Trump hired just 26 hours before his retirement in 2018 courageously dismissed from his post.

McCabe clashed with the 45th president over the FBI’s Trump-Russia collusion investigation, pursued the exposed Steele dossier and was fired as the bureau’s acting director for leaking classified case information to a journalist.

Those warnings initially raised some concerns about his confirmability in media reports, but Patel’s supporters point to his long list of Justice Department and national security credentials as evidence that he is best suited for the job.

“Despite media reports that there are concerns about confirmation, he has achieved success in the areas of counterterrorism, defense, intelligence and law,” a source close to the transition team told The Post. “Just look at his resume; That’s a pretty solid person for the job.”

Patel won early support from Trump confidant and incoming co-head of the new administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, who expressed his support in a post to X suggesting Patel for the role after he suggested it a full-time “declassification body” to increase transparency in the federal government.

“Good idea,” replied the Tesla, SpaceX and X owner.

Still, the sometimes-controversial figure’s choice could send shockwaves across Washington, which seethed last week over Trump’s choice of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as attorney general before he withdrew from the debate after meetings on Capitol Hill.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell were also considered for the FBI director job.

The Post has reached out to the Trump-Vance transition team for comment.