Trump picks anti-‘deep state’ crusader Kash Patel to head FBI | Donald Trump news

US President-elect Donald Trump has announced that he will appoint loyal Kash Patel as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This election is likely to disrupt the agency and target Trump’s political opponents.

Trump announced the decision in a post on his network Truth Social on Saturday, saying Patel, who wants to shrink the top intelligence agency and go after “conspirators” in government and media, would return “loyalty, bravery and integrity” to the intelligence agency.

“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.

“house cleaning”

The announcement means current FBI Director Christopher Wray must either resign or be fired after Trump takes office on January 20.

Although Wray is serving a 10-year term, his removal is no surprise given Trump’s longstanding public criticism of him and the FBI. Wray, who replaced Jim Comey, led the FBI as it investigated Trump for alleged obstruction of justice and searched his Mar-a-Lago estate for classified documents, leading to indictments.

The decision sets off a likely explosive confirmation fight in the Senate, which must approve the appointment not long after Trump’s plan to put another trusted ally, Matt Gaetz, at the head of the Justice Department failed.

Patel is a lesser-known figure, but his nomination is still likely to raise eyebrows. He has embraced Trump’s rhetoric about a “deep state,” calling for a “comprehensive purge” of government officials disloyal to Trump and calling journalists traitors and vowing to prosecute some. He has also promised to close the FBI headquarters in Washington and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘Deep State.’

The son of Indian immigrants, Patel held several high-ranking positions during Trump’s first term, including national security adviser and chief of staff to the acting defense secretary.

“Kash has done an incredible job in my first term,” Trump said, adding that the candidate will work to “end America’s growing crime epidemic, dismantle migrant criminal gangs, and bring the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking to bear on the nation.” to stop the border.” “.

In the final months of Trump’s first term, he unsuccessfully pushed the idea of ​​installing Patel as deputy director of the FBI or CIA. William Barr, Trump’s attorney general, wrote in his memoirs that he told then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that appointing Patel as FBI deputy director would be “over my dead body.”

“Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him for service at the highest levels of the world’s premier law enforcement agency,” Barr wrote.

Trump appoints next DEA chief

Trump also announced Saturday that he would nominate Sheriff Chad Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He worked closely with Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi.

“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 on Truth Social.

The FBI is the investigative arm of the Department of Justice, which also includes the DEA.

The appointments of Bondi and Patel suggest that Trump is interested in attracting close-knit candidates willing to implement his vision and political leanings.