United States President-elect Donald Trump tapped Kash Patel, a loyalist and former Pentagon official, to become the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Trump, 78, took to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday to make the announcement which is a move to replace the key agency’s current leader since 2017, Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump to a 10-year term.
This means that Wray would either need to step down or be fired.
Wray has faced criticism from the incoming president due to the bureau’s investigations into the Republican’s activities.
Patel is known for his controversial views on a so-called government “deep state” and his criticisms of the bureau.
“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.
A fierce defender of the incoming president, Patel supports the Republican hardliner notion of an anti-Trump “deep state” of allegedly biased government bureaucrats working to stifle Trump from behind the scenes, even having written a book on the subject.
A son of Indian immigrants, Patel served in several high-level posts during Trump’s first term including as a national security adviser and as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary.
“Kash did an incredible job during my First Term,” Trump said, adding that the nominee would work to “end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border.”
Separately, Trump nominated Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which the president-elect erroneously referred to as the Drug Enforcement Agency.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Bondi, a staunch Trump ally and former Florida attorney general, is the president-elect’s pick to lead the Department of Justice.
The FBI is the investigative arm of the Department of Justice, while the DEA also falls under its purview.
The appointments of Bondi and Patel, both close backers, indicate that Trump is interested in lining up closely aligned appointees willing to carry out his vision and policy inclinations.
