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President-elect Donald Trump has said he will appoint Kash Patel, a loyalist and hardline critic of the “deep state”, to lead the FBI, signalling he will seek to remove Christopher Wray as head of the agency.
Patel, who advised the secretary of defence under Trump’s previous administration, has previously suggested removing the FBI’s intelligence-gathering function and purging its ranks of any employees who do not support Trump.
“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Trump wrote on his social media website, Truth Social, on Saturday night.
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.”
“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,” Trump added.
A longtime Trump loyalist, Patel has also worked as a federal prosecutor and public defender, but does not have any law enforcement experience.
In a podcast hosted by Trump ally Stephen Bannon late last year, Patel vowed to investigate and “come after” journalists who “lied” and “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.”
“Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out,” Patel wrote.
In his book Government Gangsters, Patel outlines a list of “top reforms to defeat the deep state”, which include moving the FBI headquarters out of Washington and shrinking the general counsel’s office within the FBI.
Trump appointed sitting FBI director Christoper Wray in 2017, and his term does not expire until 2027. Trump has been openly critical of Wray, particularly after law enforcement officials searched his residence in search of classified documents.
More to come
