Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, received encouraging news on Thursday when a prominent Republican U.S. senator confirmed he has sufficient support for confirmation. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a key ally of Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and a recent contender for majority leader, told conservative media personality Hugh Hewitt that Patel, a former intelligence official, is poised to lead the struggling Bureau next year. “Yes, he will be” the next director, the Texas Republican asserted.
“People I have great respect for – people like Trey Gowdy – have recommended him highly. I’m still working to schedule a meeting with Kash, but I think certainly he has vast experience including working on the House Intelligence Committee, the Russiagate scam, and the Steele dossier scandal. So, I look forward to meeting with him,” Cornyn told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday.
WATCH:
JOHN CORNYN — KASH PATEL WILL BE CONFIRMED.pic.twitter.com/F3QEe1y2k0
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 5, 2024
While Pete Hegseth’s controversial nomination for Defense Secretary has drawn significant attention, Kash Patel—a contentious figure in his own right—has largely avoided intense public scrutiny over his past statements. Patel has threatened to target journalists he accuses of spreading false information about the Trump administration, a comment one anonymous U.S. senator described as “vile,” according to NBC News. In an interview last year, Patel pledged to “shut down” the FBI’s Washington, D.C. headquarters and “reopen it the next day as a museum of the ‘deep state.’”
“Kash Patel is going to deliver on President Trump’s mandate to restore integrity to the FBI and return the agency to its core mission of protecting America,” Alex Pfeiffer, a spokesperson to the Trump transition team, said in a statement to the outlet. “Kash is committed to safeguarding Americans’ First Amendment rights, unlike Joe Biden who weaponized the DOJ to target journalists.”
Patel would succeed Christopher Wray as FBI Director, departing from the post-Watergate tradition that typically grants Bureau directors a ten-year tenure to prevent perceptions of political favoritism toward the president. The longstanding precedent was shattered in 2022 following the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, where agents searched for classified documents in Trump’s possession. The investigation, led by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, was ultimately dismissed after a federal judge ruled that Smith had been improperly appointed.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.