The Senate on Thursday confirmed Kash Patel to serve as the head of the FBI, approving a pick with a string of controversial statements who has been accused by Democrats of directing a purge of bureau employees.
Patel was confirmed in a 51-49 vote, with just one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), declining to support him.
Patel has said he would “shut down” FBI headquarters on his first day in office and turn it into a “museum to the deep state.”
He’s alarmed Democrats by including a list of “government gangsters” in a book he wrote by the same name.
And Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Patel “likely committed perjury” when he denied having insight into FBI firings that came the very next day.
Durbin in a lengthy floor speech at turns called Patel “vindictive,” “dangerously politically extreme,” and warned Republicans “will come to regret this vote, probably sooner rather than later.”
“When I think of giving this man a 10-year tenure as director of the leading criminal investigative agency in the world, I cannot imagine a worse choice. You want the person has that job and that power to destroy people simply by investigation to show some temperament and some judgment,” Durbin said. “Kash Patel shows just the opposite.”
FBI directors are confirmed to a 10-year term, but Patel was nominated shortly after President Trump was re-elected, a sign the returning executive planned to fire former FBI Director Christopher Wray ahead of the end of his term in 2027.
A former public defender, Patel got his start in the political realm as a staffer to then-House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).
Patel played a key role there in seeking to discredit the committee Democrats’ investigation of Trump’s ties to Russia. That included authoring a report analyzing FBI and Justice Department responses in their own investigations of Russian election interference.
That experience also inspired him to write a series of children’s books, with a synopsis referencing “a sinister cabal” that “plotted to overthrow a president,” while Patel “reveals how we can defeat the Deep State, reassert self-government, and restore our democracy.”
That has sparked accusations from Democrats that Patel was chosen not for his skills but for his loyalty.
Durbin referred a whistleblower tip to the Justice Department inspector general he said demonstrates Patel has already taken steps to carry out retribution, pointing to the firing of senior career FBI leaders. The Justice Department has since asked for a detailed list of all FBI employees who had a hand in the more than 1,500 cases brought against those in connection with the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Collins cited a purge of FBI staff as part of her rationale for not backing Patel, saying that, as well as his history of politically charged statements, “cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.”
Most Republicans, however, see Patel as the right figure to turn around an FBI they’ve accused of being politicized and weaponized against Republicans.
“At the heart of their opposition is a fear that he’ll act like Democrats did when Democrats were in power. These Democrats are afraid the FBI, under Mr. Patel’s leadership, will use lawfare against political opponents, like the FBI used lawfare against President Trump and others,” Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a Wednesday night speech in favor of Patel.
“After reviewing Mr. Patel’s record and listening to his testimony at his hearing, I’m convinced these fears that the Democrats have are unfounded. Mr. Patel’s leadership will not be business as usual at the FBI, as it has been in previous administrations when the FBI – the people on the seventh floor, not the local agents – were used for political weaponization.”
Patel served in a number of national security positions under the first Trump administration, taking on roles at the Department of Defense, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Council.
But he often butted heads with other members of Trump’s team, with Democrats repeatedly pointing to criticism of Patel from former Attorney General Bill Barr and national security adviser John Bolton, who have both since become frequent Trump critics.
Since leaving the Trump administration, he’s appeared on a series of right-wing podcasts and started a foundation that did fundraising for charity alongside a group of jailed Jan. 6 defendants who sold a recording of them singing the national anthem to raise money.
Patel denied involvement in the matter during his confirmation hearing, despite previously boasting of helping the group record and distribute the track, including in social media posts.
It was one example of many cases in which Patel dodged or demurred when asked about past controversial statements.
“We gave Mr. Patel numerous opportunities to explain, to walk back his threats. He chose not to, nor did he try to explain his so-called Deep State list of former government officials,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Thursday.
“He repeatedly misled the committee, dodged questions and claimed ignorance, claimed he didn’t remember things he’d said just a few months before. Why would you want someone in the FBI doesn’t remember things they said only a few months before? This is irresponsible at best and deceitful at worst.”
