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Liberal establishment throws conniption over Trump's FBI director announcement; Patel speaks out
Establishmentarians hostile to President-elect Donald Trump have spent weeks characterizing former National Security Council official Kash Patel as a threat to their dysfunctional status quo.
Former FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner
told CNN last month that "putting someone like Kash Patel in the position of director of the FBI is, I believe, extremely, extremely dangerous." Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director who undermined the Trump presidency with Crossfire Hurricane, said, "There is a lot of damage someone like Kash Patel could do."
Following many such unintentional endorsements, Trump announced Saturday that he will nominate Patel as FBI director Christopher Wray's replacement.
Although Patel wasted no time indicating what he intends to achieve at the FBI, elements of the liberal establishment and intelligence community signaled a desire to instead rely on their own slapdash dystopian fiction for insights into what might happen next.
'I think the best-case scenario for everybody is that Kash Patel and this talk of Kash Patel ends.'
David Frum, the former George W. Bush speechwriter and Atlantic editor who
suggested days after Trump was shot in Pennsylvania that the gunman and his target were "common enemies of law and democracy," tweeted, "We are headed toward a US constitutional crisis vastly bigger than Watergate."
MSNBC talking head Joe Scarborough similarly panicked, saying, "This is not only bad for the men and women who run the FBI. This not only bad for the rule of law. This is not only bad for the First Amendment. This is not only bad for the United States of America. This is bad for Donald Trump. This is bad for the Trump administration. This is not going to end well. So I think the best-case scenario for everybody is that Kash Patel and this talk of Kash Patel ends."
The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus
complained, "This is not normal," and urged Republican senators to "stand up to Trump."
Although the GOP won a majority in the U.S. Senate, those nominal Republicans who
reportedly refused to support Matt Gaetz's appointment to run the Department of Justice — Sens. Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and John Curtis (Utah) — could help spike Patel's nomination.
McCabe
griped to CNN on Sunday, "The installation or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel's FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI and to possibly use it as a tool for the president's political agenda."
"And, you know, as an organization, we know what that looks like. This country has been there before, right?" continued McCabe, James Comey's former right-hand man who
shut down investigations into the Clinton Foundation in 2016.
McCabe quickly made clear that he was not referencing the Biden FBI's targeting of
pro-life activists, traditional Christians, political opponents, and outspoken parents, but rather the FBI's former targeting of communists.
"The pre-Watergate FBI, the J. Edgar Hoover FBI struck fear in the hearts of Americans across the spectrum — of politicians, people in entertainment, people in the civil rights community — because the director operated at the direction of presidents to collect political intelligence and to utilize the legal authorities, the investigative authorities of the FBI, to terrorize and intimidate Americans," said McCabe.
Former Bush adviser John Bolton, a key proponent of America's disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq, similarly criticized Trump's decision,
reportedly stating, "Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be his Lavrenty Beria. Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0."
Vice President-elect JD Vance
responded, "John Bolton has been wrong about everything so I guess Kash must be pretty awesome."
'You shut down the Hoover building immediately.'
In his announcement on Truth Social Saturday, Trump
noted, "Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution."
"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," continued the president-elect. "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."
After first making an X account, Patel
shared the following statement: "It is the honor of a lifetime to be nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of the FBI. Together, we will restore integrity, accountability, and equal justice to our justice system and return the FBI to its rightful mission: protecting the American people."
While Patel has been highly critical of the FBI, he told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck in December 2023 that the bureau is "fixable" and explained what reform might look like.
"You shut down the Hoover building immediately. I think you literally open it up the next day as a museum of the deep state and you let everybody walk the halls for free, and you leave that behemoth open 365 days a year," said Patel. "You need like 20 people in a skiff to run the FBI. The other 7,000 agents that are sitting in that building should be chasing criminals around America, not distorting statistics about January 6 so Chris Ray can go to Congress and lie and say, 'Domestic violent terrorism is on the rise.'"
While various Democrats joined McCabe in throwing tantrums, various Republican lawmakers celebrated Trump's choice.
'He is a man of honor, unquestionable loyalty, and an American Patriot.'
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.)
wrote, "Kash Patel has extensive experience in national security and intelligence. He is an America First patriot who will bring much-needed change and transparency to the FBI."
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty (R)
told NBC's "Meet the Press," "There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change, and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it."
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
said, "I look forward to supporting him and pushing this nomination across the finish line."
"Kash will get confirmed by the Senate,"
tweeted Rep.-elect Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.). "He is a man of honor, unquestionable loyalty, and an American Patriot. Kash is the son of Indian immigrants who escaped Uganda's genocidal dictator, Idi Amin. He WILL restore and uphold the rule of law, and the FBI will be premier again!"
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