Who Is Kash Patel?

When President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice for FBI director, I cheered. Kash Patel, the nominee for FBI director, has been making conservative news for years. I was impressed then by his intelligence and courage and remain so. Now he is slated to run the FBI, and Fred Lucas published an article at The Daily Signal about what we should know about him. 

In another major announcement of house cleaning, Trump announced Saturday on Truth Social that the former Pentagon senior official, influential congressional staff, White House aide and former terrorism prosecutor, would be his nominee to run the FBI, which has been besieged by scandal and whistleblowers in recent years.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Trump’s post said. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”

The president-elect noted the role Patel played in exposing misconduct by the FBI regarding the Russia investigation.

“He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Trump added. “Kash did an incredible job during my First Term, where he served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials.”

“This FBI will 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. Kash will work under our great Attorney General Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI,” Trump continued.

For anyone who chooses to claim that Patel is not qualified to lead the FBI, here are his credentials outlined by Lucas moving in reverse order:

·         Chief of staff to Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller during the first Trump administration.

·         Deputy assistant to the president and the senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council. While there, he helped with Trump policies that included the elimination of the Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda leadership including al-Baghdadi and Qaseem al-Rimi.

·         Principal deputy to the former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, who oversaw the operations of 17 intelligence community agencies.

·         Senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under then-Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) where he “oversaw the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential-election.” He also played a part in the Nunes memo showing that the FBI relied on partisan “politically motivated or questionable sources” to get a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to spy on Carter Page, Trump’s campaign aide.

·         Terrorism prosecutor at the Justice Department.

·         While working at the Justice Department, Patel also served as the liaison officer to Joint Special Operations Command, “to conduct collaborative targeting operations against high value terrorism targets.”

In addition to all of the above listed qualifications, Patel authored a book titled Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy. This book “detailed his critique of federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the FBI.”