Trump’s FBI nominee Kash Patel should take these concrete steps to restore trust

A former FBI special agent weighs in on Trump’s decision to lead the law enforcement agency where she once served, suggesting several concrete steps she says will help regain the trust of all Americans.

“In recent years, the FBI has become a political and social weapon. This has to end,” former FBI special agent and Fox News contributor Nicole Parker told Fox News Digital. “Those responsible for the destruction of the FBI must be held accountable, with tangible consequences.”

President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he plans to nominate Kashyap “Kash” Patel to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump nominated in 2017 during his first term.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and America First fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice and protecting the American people.”

WHO IS KASH PATEL? Trump’s selection to lead the FBI has a long history of promising to destroy the deep state

Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for Donald Trump. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/File)

Wray is currently serving a ten-year term that began in 2017. He could either resign from his position or be fired.

In his post, Trump wrote that Patel “played a critical role in exposing the Russia-Russia-Russia hoax and acted as a champion of truth, accountability and the Constitution.”

“It is critical that the new FBI director transform the bureau into an agency that Americans can trust, rely on to provide impartial law enforcement and protect them while upholding the Constitution,” Parker said. “The FBI must return to its core mission of fighting crime, keeping communities safe and being the agency that solid agents can once again be proud of.”

Parker added that the new FBI director needs to overhaul the agency’s culture.

“When I was an FBI special agent, they always drilled the mantra ‘needs of the FBI’ into our heads, which I strongly condemned. It shouldn’t be the needs of the FBI, it should be the needs of the American people.” “As an FBI special agent, my salary came from the taxpayers I was sworn to protect,” Parker said.

TRUMP NOMINATES KASH PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR: ‘KEEPPER OF THE TRUTH’

Nicole Parker, a former FBI special agent, said she still feels guilty for the tips the field offices receive (Fox News)

Parker said it is time to restore honor to the FBI and that the FBI must raise its hiring standards.

“The FBI director should inspire the trust of the American people and law enforcement agencies sworn to protect our great nation,” Parker said.

She then listed some concrete measures that she would like to see implemented.

“ODI (Office of Diversity and Inclusion) needs to be reevaluated as anything other than law enforcement functions is a dangerous distraction. FBI headquarters must be significantly downsized and agents must be sent back to field offices to fight crime. “The FBI also needs to raise its hiring standards and hire only the best and brightest based on pure merit,” Parker continued.

Kash Patel and President-elect Donald Trump (Getty Images)

The FBI declined to comment on Parker’s comments, but issued a statement to Fox News Digital about the FBI’s work to continue protecting Americans.

“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing number of threats. Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we work with, and the people we do the work for,” the statement said.

JOHN BOLTON COMPARES KASH PATEL TO STALIN’S RIGHT HAND AFTER TRUMP’S FBI NOMINATION

Current FBI Director Christopher Wray (left) is currently serving a ten-year term that began in 2017. Wray must either be fired or resign to allow Patel (right) to take over the position. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Patel has vowed to restore the integrity of the FBI if confirmed.

“It is the honor of my life to be nominated by President Trump to be director of the FBI,” Patel said in a statement. “Together, we will restore integrity, accountability and equal justice to our justice system and rededicate the FBI to its lawful mission: protecting the American people.”

Patel, 44, is a former national security official who advised the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense during Trump’s first term.

Before joining the first Trump administration, Patel served as national security adviser and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he reported to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. In that role, he helped oversee the House investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and uncovered unlawful surveillance of the Trump campaign by the FBI and Justice Department.

Patel published a book last year called “Government Gangsters,” in which he railed against the deep state, the arming of the federal government and the Russia investigation into Trump.

In his book, in a chapter titled “Overhauling the FBI,” Patel explicitly called for transforming the FBI and did not mince words about the state of law enforcement.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Things are bad. That cannot be denied. The FBI has grossly abused its power, threatening not only the rule of law but also the foundations of self-government that lie at the root of our democracy. But this is not the end.” “Change is possible and urgently needed at the FBI,” he wrote.

“The fact is that we need a federal agency to investigate federal crimes, and that agency will always face the risk that its powers will be abused,” he continued, advocating for the firing of “corrupt actors” and “aggressive” oversight of the federal agency Congress over the agency, complete overhaul of the special prosecutors and relocation of the FBI from Washington, DC

“Most importantly, we get the FBI out of Washington DC as quickly as possible,” he wrote. “There is no reason to centralize the country’s law enforcement agencies in the swamp. Housing the FBI in its gargantuan headquarters in Washington only enables institutional capture and creates an incentive for FBI leadership to lose focus on their mission and learn how to play.” Instead, they play political games, courting the FBI Favored by politicians and cultivated relationships with the press to advance their careers.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.