Washington – newly elected President Donald Trump Announcement There was a stir in Washington over the weekend when he announced on Saturday that he intended to nominate Kash Patel as FBI director, sparking outrage among Democrats and even some former Trump officials, while some loyalists pushed for Giving said he believed Patel would be confirmed by the Senate.
Patel, 44, who served in intelligence and defense roles in Trump's first term, is a controversial figure even within Trump's world, and one former US official described him as “the most dangerous selection Trump has ever made.” Is.
“There's no 'there' for him,” the official told CBS News. “He'll literally do anything.”
John Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump's first term and was Patel's boss, compared the nomination to Joseph Stalin's secret police chief.
Bolton said, “Fortunately, the FBI is not Stalin's secret police.” “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.”
In response to Bolton's comments, Vice President-elect JD Vance “John Bolton has been wrong about everything so I think wishing would be brilliant,” he posted on social media.
In addition to the reservations about Patel at the helm of the FBI, current FBI Director Christopher Wray's 10-year term does not expire until 2027. For Patel to become FBI Director, Wray would have to resign or be fired by Trump and Patel. Requires confirmation by the Senate. Republicans are set to take a 53-47 majority in January, leaving incoming Majority Leader John Thune with only a few votes to lose.
Peter Ze/Anadolu via Getty Images
In a post on social media on Saturday, Trump called Patel “a brilliant lawyer, investigator and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice and protecting the American people”. And some of her supporters echoed the same sentiment, such as Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who said Patel is a “very strong candidate” who he believes will be confirmed by the Senate.
“I have to say that all the people crying and gnashing their teeth and tearing their hair out are exactly the same people who are disappointed in a real reformer coming into the FBI and cleaning out the corrupt partisans who sadly got caught up in this “in senior career positions at the FBI,” Cruz said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday.
Senator Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Republican, Said On NBC's “Meet the Press” he “encouraged President Trump to bring Kash Patel to the table,” saying Patel “represents the kind of change we need to see at the FBI.”
Other Republicans, such as Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, took a more cautious approach. Rounds expressed support for Wray, who was nominated by Trump in his first term in 2017.
“I think the President chose a very good person to be FBI director in his first term,” Rounds. Said On ABC's “This Week.” “Right now I have no complaints about the way he's done his job.”
Meanwhile, Democrats were highly critical of the selection. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said on NBC that he would not vote, expressing concern that Patel would “only care about protecting Republicans.” And Murphy promised to help his colleagues and the American public “understand what's going on here.”
“Donald Trump told the American public during the campaign that he was going to turn the Justice Department into a political operation, an arm of the White House, to destroy his political opponents,” Murphy said. “Kash Patel's only qualification is that he agrees with Donald Trump that the Justice Department should be tasked with punishing, shutting down, and intimidating Donald Trump's political opponents. And so the price for this to the American public is very simple”
In recent weeks, Trump's most controversial picks for top positions in his administration have faced intense scrutiny as they prepare for the Senate confirmation process. and a selection, former Rep. matt getz, withdrew from consideration Facing adverse circumstances in the Senate.
Senator Dick Durbin, the current majority whip in the upper house, in a statement urged his Senate colleagues to reject Trump's selection of Patel, noting that “we already have an FBI director” and blaming the president-elect That they “want to replace his own appointee with an unqualified loyalist.”
“The Senate must reject this unprecedented effort to weaponize the FBI for the campaign of retaliation that Donald Trump has promised,” Durbin said.
Contributed to this report.