Kash Patel confirmed as FBI director, kicking off pivot for bureau
Category: News & Politics
Via: vic-eldred • yesterday • 21 commentsBy: Steven Nelson (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
WASHINGTON — Kash Patel was confirmed to be FBI director Thursday — unleashing a transition in which President Trump's longtime adviser is expected to overhaul the bureau.
The Senate voted 51-49 to approve Patel to serve a 10-year term, with Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) breaking ranks and voting with 47 Democrats against the nominee.
Trump has said that Patel, 44, will shake up the bureau and attempt to depoliticize decision-making after a series of controversies involving either alleged or proven bias against Republicans.
3Kash Patel is expected to be confirmed as FBI director Thursday. AP
"I think Kash is going to do great," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an interview that aired Tuesday. "I think they have to do great or we have a problem. But when you look at what they did, the raid of Mar-a-Lago — you look at what they did, their reputation is shot."
Patel emerged unscathed from his confirmation hearing last month as Democratic senators focused much of their time accusing him of being sympathetic to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
At that hearing, Patel pledged to reform rather than unravel the bureau — after some close Trump allies called for the FBI to be disbanded after the August 2022 raid on Trump's Florida residence.
Patel said he would "make sure we don't have 100,000 rapes in this country next year, make sure we don't have 100,000 drug overdoses from Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroin, and make sure we don't have 17,000 homicides."
"Those numbers need to be cut in half immediately," he said, "and the public will regain trust in the FBI and law enforcement."
Patel worked for 12 years as a public defender in Florida before serving in the Justice Department as a trial attorney between 2014 and 2017.
3Patel, pictured with President Trump on Dec. 14, says he will work to reform the FBI. X/Kash Patel
He then worked in congressional and executive-branch roles during Trump's first term, including as chief of staff to the defense secretary and as principal deputy to the director of national intelligence.
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray resigned Jan. 19 — one day before Trump became the 47th president — after the commander in chief signaled he would replace him.
Wray presided over investigations of Trump and took heat from congressional Republicans for fibbing about having official business to attend to in order to ditch an oversight hearing for vacation.
The Justice Department this month accused acting bureau leadership of "insubordination" in a review of alleged "weaponization" of law enforcement under former President Joe Biden. Patel is expected to work closely with Attorney General Pam Bondi on that initiative.
3Former FBI Director Christopher Wray (left) resigned last month. AP
Trump has accused the FBI of politicizing its investigations, including a pair of criminal cases lodged against him for allegedly mishandling classified documents and for challenging the 2020 election results.
During the 45th presidency, evidence emerged that key leaders investigating whether Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election were biased against him.
Top counterintelligence official Peter Strzok, who opened the probe, swapped anti-Trump messages with his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, in which they referred to the Republican as an "idiot" and a "loathsome human" and described to the probe as an "insurance policy" in case he won.
The Biden Justice Department last year agreed to pay Strzok $1.2 million and Page $800,000 to settle lawsuits claiming their privacy was violated by the public release of those messages.
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He was the most important one.
Congrats to Senate Leader Thune
The lunatics are running the asylum.
They were. Hopefully they will now pay the price.
No, the lunatics have been pushed out and let go.
I hope this moron does go after Jack Smith or Adam Kinzinger. He will run the day.
Do you mean rue the day?
That was auto correct.
He will rue the day.
How?
He has no basis to go after them and they have the facts on their side, thats how. You right wingers give credence to those idiots on the GOP house committees and that will blow up in MAGAs face.
Is this the talking points you were issued because you have no idea what the facts are.
The only thing that will blow up is the little leftist heads when those fraudsters start having to answer for whatever it was they did.
That is why so many states are suing to block any fraud investigation. They're afraid of what the feds might find as far as mishandling of federal cash they were appropriated.
Why am I wasting my time
Don't forget that if he does go after him, certain facts about Smith's investigations may actually see the light of day.
You mean the House committee that spent 3 years investigating and publicly accusing Biden or everything they could think of, and in the end came out with absolutely nothing?
Or the House committee spending time and money investigating hunter Biden (a private citizen) and also came out with absolutely nothing?
How about the House committee that was tasked with proving the Biden administration was involved with lawfare against Trump? Of course they also came away with absolutely nothing.
It's fun watching them spin spin spin.
Lol. Biden just gave blanket pardons for the last 10 years to his family because they were innocent of crimes, as one does. Right.
"Why am I wasting my time"
Beats me, since you appear to have no sense of reality or the facts.
What exactly is being spun?
Be specific...
Wasn't it leftists who said that if you plead the fifth or accept a pardon, you must be guilty of what you are accused of?
Yes....
Yes it was.
Only after the incoming administration threatened his family members and other citizens.
Nope it wasn't.
Justice that Patel gets to the lead the agency that illegally spied on him as he worked to expose its lies to the Courts in Fisagate.