Trump reveals pick for FBI director

US President-elect Donald Trump has named former adviser Kash Patel to serve as next FBI director. If confirmed by the Senate, Patel will replace Christopher Wray, who Trump often attacked and accused of going after him and his allies for political reasons. 

“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.

The president-elect praised Patel for playing “a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia Hoax,” referring to the allegations that the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow during the 2016 presidential election. He added that Patel “did an incredible job” when he advised Trump on national security and briefly served as chief of staff to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller during Trump’s first term.

Under Patel’s leadership, the FBI will “end the growing crime epidemic” and take on “migrant criminal gangs,” Trump said.

Trump has long accused the Democrats and the Biden administration of weaponizing the FBI and Department of Justice to launch investigations as part of a politically motivated “witch hunt.” He also accused Wray of incompetence.

“He knows nothing about the terrorists and other criminals pouring into our country at record levels. His only focus is destroying J6 Patriots, raiding Mar-a-Lago, and saving radical left lunatics, like the ones now in DC burning American flags and spray painting over our great national monuments,” Trump wrote about the current FBI chief on social media in July 2024. 

Patel has called for the FBI to be stripped of its intelligence gathering role and argued that the bureau should focus more on combating organized crime. He promised to rid the government of “conspirators” and indicated that he would prosecute journalists.

“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” Patel said, according to AP.

Patel, the son of Indian immigrants and a former public defender, worked for several years as a prosecutor with the Justice Department before he drew the interest of the Trump administration while serving as a staff member for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.