Trump nominates Kash Patel to lead FBI

President-elect Trump plans to nominate Kash Patel to serve as head of the FBI, elevating a staunch ally and controversial figure who sparked internal battles during the first Trump administration.

Patel has called for mass firings, particularly at both the Justice Department and the FBI, and has also called for stripping security clearances of anyone involved in investigating Trump while he was a candidate in 2016. He has regularly accused a “deep state” of thwarting Trump during his first term.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump said in a Saturday post on his social media site Truth Social. 

Trump’s announcement indicated he plans to fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who Trump first nominated in 2017 and whose 10-year term otherwise wouldn’t be up until 2027. 

The FBI did not directly address Patel’s nomination. 

"Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats. Director Wray's focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for,” the agency said in a statement Saturday night. 

Beyond the plans to boot Wray, Patel’s background could also complicate his Senate confirmation. 

A former public defender who worked his way to serving as a national security prosecutor at the Department of Justice under the Obama administration, Patel got his start in politics as a staffer to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), working as an adviser on the House Intelligence Committee.

Patel played a key role there in seeking to discredit the committee Democrats’ investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia. That included authoring a report analyzing FBI and DOJ responses in their own investigations into Russian election interference.

It also makes Patel another in a string of hires who backed Trump during his impeachment investigation.

Patel moved from Congress to the White House, serving as senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council and later moved to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 

Patel was viewed as a Trump loyalist and was almost installed as then-CIA Director Gina Haspel’s deputy until she threatened to resign over the move, Axios reported at the time.

In late 2020 he moved to the Department of Defense, where NBC reported he at times stalled work with the Biden transition team, seeking to block staff from sharing information.

On Jan. 6 he was serving as chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, who was appointed to the role the day after Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper.

His short time at the Pentagon earned scrutiny from the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee, asking him to sit for an interview after writing, “there is substantial reason to believe that you have additional documents and information relevant to understanding the role played by the Department of Defense and the White House in preparing for and responding to the attack on the U.S. Capitol, as well as documents and information related to your personal involvement in planning for events on Jan. 6 and the peaceful transfer of power.”

Patel denied any wrongdoing or improper actions related to the attack.

Patel has also played a role in another Trump saga that sparked charges for the former president — his Florida documents case.

Patel claimed he witnessed Trump give verbal orders to declassify some of the documents found at his home — a detail that would back a defense floated, but never fully asserted — by Trump’s legal team.

Patel is also the author of a children’s book, “The Plot Against The King,” that advertises itself as telling the story behind “one of our nation's biggest injustices.”

The book portrays Patel as a wizard while Trump is clearly the king, facing threats from “Hillary Queenton” while others such as Nunes and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) make appearances.

Patel currently sits on the board of the company that oversees Trump’s social media site. 

As recently as this month Patel was echoing Trump’s claims about a “deep state” and cast doubt on the agency he would lead as well as its investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign. 

“The Deep State can not be trusted. They have weaponized the government for their own political and personal agenda,” Patel wrote in a newsletter from his foundation, calling the investigation into Trump’s Russia ties “fraud.”

Patel has faced some pushback, notably from former members of the FBI itself.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe argued the bureau would be in a dangerous position with Patel at its helm.

“No part of the FBI’s mission is safe with Kash Patel in any position of leadership in the FBI, and certainly not in the deputy director’s job,” McCabe previously told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “The scope of authority is enormous.

Updated at 8:06 p.m. EST.