'Kash Patel is dangerous', clamour rises against Trump's FBI pick as he faces rocky path to US Senate approval

Kash Patel's appointment as the FBI head would lead to removal of Trump-appointed current director Christopher Wray before his tenure ends.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated MAGA loyalist Kash Patel to lead the FBI. With this move, Trump seems to restructure the intelligence agency he has long targeted. However, Patel is most likely to face a tough road ahead when it comes to receiving a confirmation from the Senate.

Kash Patel, who has worked as the chief of staff to the interim defense secretary and a member of the National Security Council during Trump's first term, has always been vocal against the President-elect's enemies.(AFP / Rebecca Noble)

Patel, who has worked as the chief of staff to the interim defense secretary and a member of the National Security Council during Trump's first term, has always been vocal against the President-elect's enemies.

After Patel was appointed as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense shortly following the 2020 election, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, counseled Patel not to breach the law in a bid to keep Trump in power.

During his first term, Trump even proposed to appoint Patel as deputy director of the FBI, but at that time Attorney General Bill Barr confronted the White House chief of staff and stated, “Over my dead body.”

Barr in his memoir wrote that Patel “had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. The very idea of moving Patel into a role like this showed a shocking detachment from reality.”

Moreover, Gina Haspel, the chief of the CIA, threatened to quit when Trump intended to appoint Patel as deputy director in the last few weeks of his first presidency.

While Trump supporters have backed the nomination of Patel, some have even questioned his eligibility to head the FBI.

So why why does Trump want to appoint Kash Patel despite criticism?

Trump's interest in Patel reflects his desire to appoint supporters to high-level law enforcement and intelligence roles who could be willing to carry out his requests for particular investigations and protect the president from potential future inquiries.

In his statement on Truth Social, Trump declared Patel as “a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”

Patel's appointment as the FBI head would lead to removal of Trump-appointed current director Christopher Wray before his tenure ends, the upcoming move which has already drawn condemnation from both parties.

Speaking to CNN, former Trump national security advisor John Bolton said, “The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.” He went on to draw a comparison between Patel and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin's secret police NKVD chief.

Meanwhile, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, warned that the FBI director shouldn't be susceptible to the “whims” of politics, without making any direct comment on Patel.

Is Kash Patel eligible to become FBI head?

Patel is known for writing a children's book about a wizard named Kash who attempts to defend King Donald from Hillary Queenton.

In the last few years, Patel has earned a title of conspiracy theorist, radical political operative, and election denier. He has openly denounced the FBI and promised to target Trump's enemies.

In an interview with Steve Bannon, Patel stated, “We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media.”

He went on to say they will pursue those in the media who misrepresented Americans and assisted Joe Biden in manipulating the 2020 presidential elections. “Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out,” he remarked.

Expressing his desire to investigate Trump's opponents and exact revenge on his critics, he asserted, “We’re actually going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we have always been guilty of but never have.”

An article published in The Atlantic declared that “Kash Patel was dangerous”, not because he has some specific plan to implement if he gets control of the CIA or FBI, but rather because he seemed to have no plan at all, with his priorities being always subjected “to mercurial president’s wishes tomorrow.”

Reacting to the President-elect's decision to nominate Patel for the role, Atlantic’s Tom Nichols wrote: “Trump has now named sycophants to lead each of these institutions, a move that eliminates important obstacles to his frequently expressed desires to use the armed forces, federal law-enforcement agents, intelligence professionals, and government lawyers as he chooses, unbounded by the law or the Constitution.”

“If you want to assemble the infrastructure of an authoritarian government, this is how you do it,” he added.

Will the Senate confirm Kash Patel's nomination?

Citing insiders familiar with the discussion, the Wall Street Journal reported that some Trump advisers have cautioned him that confirmation about Patel's nomination “would be problematic”.

According to them, Patel not only lacked the necessary experience but his acceptance of divisive theories may harm his chances of getting Senate's approval.