President-elect Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be the next director of the FBI, a person with extensive experience in national security and intelligence.
Patel’s experience ranges from personally conducting dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring home American hostages to implementing counterterrorism strategies against America’s most wanted terrorists. Current and former U.S. lawmakers and national security officials say that if you look at his resume “objectively,” he is “one of the most experienced people ever nominated” to lead the office.
During the first Trump administration, Patel served as Trump’s deputy assistant and senior director of counterterrorism. In that role, Patel participated in presidential missions aimed at decimating senior leaders of Al-Qaeda and command and control of ISIS. Patel was involved in planning the mission to eliminate Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others.
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Kash Patel, former chief of staff to then-acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, speaks during a campaign event for Republican candidates at Whiskey Roads Restaurant & Bar in Tucson, Arizona, on July 31, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Patel was also involved in efforts to bring some of the most wanted terrorists to the United States for prosecution, and worked on the Trump administration’s efforts to return dozens of American hostages home.
“When I was national security adviser, Kash was my senior director of counterterrorism. He was responsible for all interagency actions against ISIS, Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations,” said former White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien. , to Fox News Digital. “He was also responsible for the hostage rescue and did a great job on both fronts.”
O’Brien recalled Patel’s “tremendous personal bravery” regarding Austin Tice, a hostage who has allegedly been held by the Syrian government for more than 12 years.
In 2020, O’Brien said the Syrians “finally agreed to let an American come to negotiate and I asked Kash Patel and Ambassador Roger Carstens if they would go.”
White House National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien speaks during a defense goods handover ceremony at the Department of Foreign Affairs office in Manila, Philippines, Nov. 23, 2020. (Eloisa López/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“I wanted someone from the White House, so it wasn’t just State Department representatives. Kash was the White House guy,” O’Brien said. “They traveled by land from Beirut to Damascus through territory where the Al Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah were present. It was a very complex situation. They drove to Damascus to meet with the head of Assad’s intelligence service. “.
O’Brien said that “the Syrians themselves could easily have taken Kash and Roger hostage.”
“I never heard Kash talk or tell war stories about that mission to try to save a fellow American,” O’Brien said.
He added: “I would tell anyone who ignorantly criticizes Kash Patel’s character to tell me the last time he did something dangerous to try to save a stranger.”
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Not everyone shared O’Brien’s optimistic portrayal of Patel. Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and others have criticized Trump’s selection of Patel, claiming he is unqualified.
But O’Brien and others say those attacks “are entirely politically motivated because he supports the president’s America First agenda.”
“There was a time when Democrats would have applauded a president for appointing someone with experience in criminal defense and who is against the FBI surveilling American citizens, but that was a very different Democratic party,” O’ said Brien.
Beyond his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in the U.S. strategy to counter efforts by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea against U.S. interests. He also worked on implementing multibillion-dollar sanctions against foreign adversaries.
Victoria Coates, Trump’s former deputy national security adviser and vice president of national security at the Heritage Foundation, said Patel was a “strong colleague” on the National Security Council (NSC) and “understands that critical piece of our security architecture.” national”. “.
The seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation outside headquarters in Washington, DC, on July 3, 2023. (Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“After four years of Biden-Harris mismanagement, he will be the strong hand the FBI needs to keep the American people safe,” Coates said. “Instead of a director who spends all his time testifying before Congress about all the red lights he sees flashing on the dashboard, we will have one who will do something to turn them off.”
Prior to working as Trump’s deputy and at the NSC, Patel worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as senior deputy to acting DNI Ric Grenell and assisted former director John Ratcliffe in his transition to the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as CIA director.
At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus intelligence gathering against transnational and counternarcotics threats.
“Kash brings a lot of passion to government service because he has seen what corruption is like from the inside,” Grenell said. “He is a first-generation American who knows how elites manipulate the system to maintain power and control over Americans.”
“Reforming Washington and its insular customs requires courage,” Grenell continued. “Those of us who want reforms outside Washington have to stop waiting for those who live and work in Washington to implement them. They will never reform themselves.”
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Before joining the Trump administration, Patel served as national security advisor and senior counterterrorism advisor to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Patel was the lead investigator for the committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Throughout his investigation, he led the effort to uncover FISA abuse and exposed the illegal actions of the FBI and the Department of Justice before a federal court to illegally surveil Americans, including members of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“The best thing about Kash is that, because of his previous government experience and his key role in uncovering Russiagate, he will not be fooled by bureaucracy.,“said Trump’s former deputy national security adviser in the White House, KT McFarland.
“Intelligence community bureaucrats cover up their mistakes and misconduct by hiding behind the excuse of ‘sources and methods.’ They slow down declassification efforts and internal investigations. Most new appointees in the intelligence bureaucracy fall into trap; Kash won’t do it.”
Trump’s former deputy national security adviser in the White House, KT McFarland. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
McFarland said Patel’s critics claim he “will seek revenge,” but she declared those critics “are wrong.”
“Remember, government bureaucrats always leave a paper trail of their actions,” he said. “Kash can expose them by declassifying these documents and then letting the American people decide whether these anonymous FBI and Justice Department bureaucrats have abused their power with a two-tier justice system: prosecuting their political opponents and protecting their allies. “.
Patel, an attorney, served as a public defender and national security prosecutor at the Department of Justice and tried dozens of complex criminal cases. In total, Patel has worked in the United States government for 16 years.
His last role in the Trump administration was as chief of staff of the Department of Defense.
Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for former President Trump at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on October 13. (Getty Images)
“Kash Patel is the right person for the job,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.
Jordan said he worked closely with Patel when he served among then-House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ top officials.
“He did an exceptional job,” Jordan said.
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And soon he’ll be on the other side of the Capitol, Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that Patel will “shake up the FBI.”
“You have my support and vote for confirmation,” Banks said.
