President-elect Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be the next FBI director, someone with an extensive background in national security and intelligence.
Patel’s experience ranges from carrying out dangerous missions in the Middle East in an effort to bring US hostages to use counter-terrorism tactics against America’s most wanted terrorists. Current and former US national security officials and lawmakers say that given his first book on “policy,” he is “one of the most knowledgeable people ever appointed” to lead the agency.
During the Trump administration, Patel served as Trump’s deputy and as the executive director of counterterrorism. In that role, Patel participated in the president’s mission aimed at eliminating the senior leadership of Al-Qaeda and the command and control of ISIS. Patel was involved in organizing the campaign to oust Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, among others.
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Kash Patel, former chief of staff to then-Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, speaks during a campaign event for Republican candidates at Whiskey Roads Restaurant & Bar in Tucson, Arizona, on July 31, 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Patel has also been involved in efforts to bring some of the most wanted terrorists to the US for prosecution, and has worked with the Trump administration’s efforts to bring home dozens of American hostages.
“When I was national security adviser, Kash was my senior director of counterterrorism. He was responsible for all actions against ISIS, Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations,” former White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told Fox News Digital. “He was also responsible for rescuing the hostages, and he did a good job on both sides.”
O’Brien recalled Patel’s “tremendous courage” regarding Austin Tice, a potential hostage held by the Syrian government for more than 12 years.
In 2020, O’Brien said the Syrians “finally agreed to allow the American to enter the negotiations and I asked Kash Patel and Amb. Roger Carstens if they would go.”
White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien speaks during a defense document reform ceremony at the State Department office in Manila, Philippines, November 23, 2020. (Eloisa Lopez/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“I wanted someone from the White House, so it wasn’t just the State Department. Kash was the White House guy,” O’Brien said. “They traveled across the country from Beirut to Damascus through an area where there was Al Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Hezbollah. It was a very complicated situation. They drove all the way to Damascus to meet with the head of Assad’s intelligence service. .”
O’Brien said “the Syrians themselves could easily have taken Kash and Roger.”
“I’ve never heard Kash talk or tell war stories about that goal of trying to save another American,” O’Brien said.
He added: “I would say to anyone who is ignorantly criticizing Kash Patel’s character, tell me the last time he did something dangerous to try to save a stranger.”
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Not everyone shared O’Brien’s favorable representation of Patel. Fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and others criticized Trump’s choice of Patel, calling him unfit.
But O’Brien and others said the attack was “totally political because he supports the president’s America First agenda.”
“There was a time when Democrats would applaud the president for appointing someone with experience in crime prevention and who is against the FBI spying on American citizens — but that was a very different group of Democrats,” O’Brien said.
In addition to his counterterrorism work, Patel was heavily involved in America’s strategy to counter Chinese, Russian, Iranian and North Korean efforts against US interests. He also worked to implement multi-million dollar sanctions against foreign opponents.
Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to Trump and vice president of national security at the Heritage Foundation, said Patel is a “strong colleague” on the National Security Council (NSC) and “understands that critical piece of national security architecture.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation signs outside its headquarters in Washington, DC, on July 3, 2023. (Celal Güneş/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“After four years of Biden-Harris mismanagement, he will be the strong hand the FBI needs to keep the American people safe,” Coates said. “Instead of a director who spends all his time testifying to Congress about all the red lights he sees flashing on the dashboard, we’re going to have someone who will do something to turn them off.”
Prior to serving as Trump’s deputy and at the NSC, Patel served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) as the principal deputy to acting DNI Ric Grenell and helped former Director John Ratcliffe transition into the role. Trump nominated Ratcliffe last month to serve as CIA director.
At ODNI, Patel also worked to focus on intelligence gathering against narcotic and international threats.
“Kash brings a lot of love to government work because he has seen what corruption is like inside,” said Grenell. “He is a first-generation American who knows how elites manipulate the system to maintain power and control over the American people.”
“Changing Washington and its ways takes courage,” Grenell continued. “Those of us outside Washington who want change must stop expecting those who live and work in Washington to bring about change. They will never change themselves.”
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Before joining the Trump administration, Patel served as national security adviser and senior counterterrorism adviser on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
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Patel was the lead investigator for the committee’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Throughout his investigation, he led the effort to expose FISA abuses and exposed illegal actions by the FBI and DOJ in federal court to illegally spy on Americans, including members of the 2016 Trump campaign.
“The best thing about Kash is that, because of his previous government experience and his key role in the Russiagate revelation, he won’t get caught up in bureaucracy.,“Trump White House former deputy national security adviser KT McFarland said.
“Intelligence community managers cover up their mistakes and misdeeds by hiding under the pretext of ‘sources and methods’. They slow down declassification efforts and internal investigations. Most of the new appointees in the intel bureaucracy believe that – Kash won’t.”
Former Trump White House deputy national security adviser KT McFarland. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
McFarland said Patel’s critics said he was “going for revenge,” but declared those critics “wrong.”
“Remember, government officials always leave traces of their actions,” he said. “Kash can expose them by declassifying these documents and allow the American people to decide whether these nameless, faceless FBI officials at the DOJ have abused their power through a two-pronged justice system — by prosecuting their political opponents and protecting their allies.”
Patel, an attorney, has worked as a public defender and national security prosecutor at the Department of Justice and tried dozens of complex criminal cases. In total, Patel has worked in the US government for 16 years.
His last role in the Trump administration was serving as chief of staff at the Department of Defense.
Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for former President Trump at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct. 13. (Getty Images)
“Kash Patel is the right guy for the job,” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital.
Jordan said he worked closely with Patel while serving on the staff of former Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes.
“He did a great job,” said Jordan.
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And soon to be on the other side of Capitol Hill, Sen.-elect Jim Banks, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that Patel would “shake up the FBI.”
“He supports him and I voted for confirmation,” Banks said.
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