Donald Trump’s a close associate Kash Patel, who served as an adviser during the first Trump administration, is apparently being considered to be the next director of the FBI.
Patel, 44, a former national security official, federal prosecutor, and defence lawyer, has pledged to remove Trump’s disloyal supporters while promoting theories about the “deep state.”
According to a former special agent, Patel could cause “massive damage” to the FBI, which is why his name is being circulated as the future director.
“I think it’s really, really risky to put someone like Kash Patel as the director of the FBI because you just hinted that his resume isn’t conventional,” retired FBI Special Agent Daniel Brunner told CNN on Sunday. “There is nothing on his resume other than three years as a line U.S. attorney at the DOJ.”
Kash Patel Background
Patel worked for nine years as a public defender in Miami, where he began his professional career, prior to entering the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Representative Devin Nunes, a Trump loyalist, appointed Patel as senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence three years later. Nunes tasked Patel with overseeing the committee’s inquiry into Russia’s purported role in the 2016 campaign.
Kash Patel ended up working on the National Security Council after Trump became interested in a document he helped create that detailed the DOJ’s purported shortcomings in its probe into Trump’s campaign.
Patel served on the board of Trump Media and Technology Group, the business that owns Truth Social. He had a $120,000 annual consulting contract, according to the Associated Press, and since the beginning of the year, Trump’s leadership PAC has paid him over $300,000.
In addition, Patel is the director of The Kash Foundation, a charity organisation that purports to assist law enforcement, education, and whistleblowers in “areas the mainstream media refuses to cover.” It began as a group that provided funds for defamation cases.
Since Trump’s last term, Patel has authored a number of publications, including a memoir titled Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy and children’s novels featuring Hillary Clinton as a villain pursuing “King Donald.”
According to some estimates, his employment and stocks in firms like Tesla have contributed to his net worth of around $30 million.
Newsweek was informed by a representative of the Kash Foundation that there was no proof of an involvement in the administration “beyond unfounded rumours circulating.”
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What is the director of the FBI in charge of?
The director of the FBI reports to the attorney general and is considered an officer in the executive branch of the US government.
The office is part of the Department of Justice, and the person in charge is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the agency.
In addition to making sure field offices are manned with qualified agents, the director must ensure that cases and operations are handled appropriately.
Like Cabinet nominees, the president appoints the position and the Senate confirms it.