President-elect Donald Trump‘s announcement that Kash Patel would take over as FBI Director was celebrated by some and dreaded by others.
Patel previously served as the chief of staff to the Department of Defense under Trump’s first administration. He’s since become known for his prediction that if he were to lead the FBI, he would close down the Washington, D.C. headquarters and deploy the thousands of employees across the country to work as law enforcement. The bureau’s recent reputation of targeting Republican politicians has led some in the party to celebrate a drastic change.
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“This is not just another pick…. this will fundamentally change our country as we know it,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) wrote on X. “Kash Patel is a brilliant mind and one of the few I trust in DC/ political orbit. He helped me war game a few things and will ensure the @FBI is respected again!”
This is not just another pick…. this will fundamentally change our country as we know it. Kash Patel is a brilliant mind and one of the few I trust in DC/ political orbit. He helped me war game a few things and will ensure the @FBI is respected again!
https://t.co/4fif1rSt7Z
— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) December 1, 2024
“Great choice by @realDonaldTrump. Kash is a patriot and 100% America First,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) wrote.
“President Trump is officially firing Christopher Wray as FBI Director and replacing him with Kash Patel. Kash Patel is about to expose and dismantle the entire Deep State and I hope he doesn’t holdback!” Trump’s border czar Tom Homan wrote. “This is a huge win for America!”
President Trump is officially firing Christopher Wray as FBI Director and replacing him with
Kash Patel.Kash Patel is about to expose and dismantle the entire Deep State and I hope he doesn’t holdback!
This is a huge win for America!
pic.twitter.com/gyuqhbeT9S
— Tom Homan – Border Czar (Commentary+News account) (@TomHoman_) December 1, 2024
Others celebrated what could be Patel’s first move in revealing who had been involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged crimes of sex trafficking. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell of an apparent suicide before he could be convicted. Victims of Epstein are in the middle of a lawsuit against the FBI over an alleged cover-up.
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“I look forward to working with Kash Patel as FBI Director to release Epstein’s flight logs and black book,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wrote. “Under the Trump administration, the American people are going to get answers.”
Epstein’s case is comparable to rapper Sean Combs, who is facing similar charges that some have speculated could be in Patel’s crosshairs. An innumerable group of celebrities are speculated to be involved.
“Our new FBI director Kash Patel has promised to release the Epstein client list and Diddy party attendee lists,” the Libs of TikTok account wrote. “Nobody in Hollywood is sleeping peacefully tonight…”
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Still others were disappointed with the announcement and underwhelmed with Patel’s credentials. Among his critics was former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who appeared on CNN Newsroom Saturday night.
“It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate,” McCabe said. “The installation, or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel as FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI, and to possibly use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda.”
“It’s very troublesome,” Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) said on the same program. “And in his own words, Mr. Patel has made it very, very clear what he thinks he will do to the press and he’ll do to political opponents. It is a very dangerous, a very, very dangerous road on which Trump is putting us.”
The Atlantic staff writer Tom Nichols appeared on Ayman Saturday to also call the appointment “dangerous.”
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“When it comes to the danger to our democracy, Patel is about as dangerous as it gets, not because he’s that much of a true believer in anything, but because — and I would recommend that people take a look at a piece that we had about him in the Atlantic — he believes in nothing except serving Donald Trump, except, you know, his own interest,” Nichols said. “Because the other thing that says putting Patel there, it says the FBI is no longer in the law enforcement business. It’s certainly not in the counterintelligence business, which our enemies will be very happy to hear.”
Patel would be replacing Christopher Wray, who began his post in 2017. FBI Directors have a tradition of serving 10-year terms. Patel would be the ninth director to the bureau.
