For the vast community of January 6 activists — a group of MAGA personalities, family members of jailed rioters, and rioters who have completed their sentences — Patel's nomination by Trump is a sign that retribution is coming. And part of that retribution isn't just about giving pardons and mercy to the rioters: It's about going after the people who put them behind bars in the first place.
Since at least the 1990s and the Waco siege, the anti-government movement in the US has viewed the FBI as its enemy. Trump's first presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic took anti-government hostility into the mainstream. This animosity was further heightened by the January 6 investigations and prosecutions, as well as federal investigations of Trump. And the narrative that Trump and the January 6 defendants are both “political prisoners” of a corrupt and tyrannical “Biden regime,” hunted by their personal Gestapo in FBI uniforms, took hold.
The MAGA media ecosystem and the network of J6 activists believe that Patel, if he takes the reins of the FBI, will root out corruption, exposing all kinds of nefarious conspiracies designed to harm Trump And prove that J6 was a false flag.
“The FBI deserves Kash Patel,” wrote Suzanne Monk, a prominent J6 lawyer at X. “He earned the money he's bringing in.” MAGA commentators The Hodge Twins wrote on X, “I wish that choice by Patel would have alerted the traitors in our government.”
“How many FBI agents were there for J6?” “We're gonna figure it out,” Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia wrote on Twitter.
Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican from Louisiana, spoke out through a post that addressed Ray directly. “Mr Ray. Stay close to DC. Your presence will be ordered,” Higgins wrote on the You have destroyed.”
Accused rioter Philip Anderson, who faces federal and misdemeanor charges on Jan. 6, said on X that he will have to wait and see whether Patel and Trump put their money where their mouth is. “We're not taking you guys seriously unless you end J6 prosecution on day one.”
So far, aside from his Truth Social posts, Trump hasn't said much about whether he plans to do anything good about it His promise of pardon and amnesty on January 6Some hopeful defendants have sought to delay their proceedings or even have the charges dropped altogether. Some lawyers are unsure whether Trump will pursue blanket pardons for all those involved in the January 6 attacks, or selectively pardon people based on the types of crimes they have been accused of, for example. Will grant pardon.
Meanwhile, Riggleman suggests that Patel will face a difficult, if not impossible, struggle to get confirmed as head of the FBI. Patel's former colleagues At various points in his career his ability to lead the agency has been questioned. “If anyone is sensible, I don't think the Senate will confirm him,” Riggleman said. “But still, there are senators who are very afraid of Donald Trump and their own reelection prospects.”