Donald Trump names longtime ally Kash Patel as FBI director

Today at 07:30 PM

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has picked Kash Patel to serve as FBI director in the latest bombshell pick.

It comes a mere few hours after the Republican nominated his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s dad, Charles Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France.

The latest bombshell Trump has thrown at the Washington establishment will serve as a test for how far Senate Republicans will go in confirming his nominees.

Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday night: “I am proud to announce that Kashyap Kash Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and America First fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”

The selection keeps with Trump’s view that the government’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies require radical change – all while keeping close allies.

It’s not currently known whether Patel could be confirmed – even by a Republican-led Senate.

Patel would replace Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump in 2017 but quickly fell out of favor with the now-President-elect and his pals.

Though the position carries a 10-year term, Wray’s removal was not unexpected given Trumps long-running public criticism of him and the FBI.

This includes after a search of his Florida’s property for classified documents and two investigations that resulted in his indictment.

Patel has called for dramatically reducing the FBI’s footprint and has suggested closing down the bureau’s headquarters in Washington.

Instead he looks to reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state Trump’s pejorative catch-all for the federal bureaucracy.

And despite the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigation – Patel looks to change this.

He has said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters and change the law to make it easier to sue journalists.

During an interview with Steve Bannon last December, Patel said he and others will go out and find the conspirators not just in government but in the media.

Patel said, referring to the 2020 presidential election when President Joe Biden beat Trump: “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.

“We’re going to come after you, whether its criminally or civilly. Well figure that out. But yeah, were putting you all on notice.”

The child of Indian immigrants and a former public defender, Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Trump also announced Saturday that he will nominate Sheriff Chad Chronister, the top law enforcement officer in Hillsborough County, Florida, to serve as the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social announcing the pick: “As DEA Administrator, 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.”

And Trump also announced that he wants his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s dad, Charles Kushner, to serve as ambassador to France.

Trump made the announcement in a gushing Truth Social post, calling Charles Kushner a “tremendous business leader, philanthropist, and dealmaker.”

He added: “Congratulations to Charlie, his wonderful wife Seryl, their 4 children, and 14 grandchildren.

“Together, we will strengthen America's partnership with France, our oldest Ally, and one of our greatest!”