ABC NEWS
President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he plans on firing FBI director Christopher Wray and replacing him with longtime ally Kash Patel.
The appointment must be approved by the Senate.
Patel has been a staunch supporter of Trump for years and served in his first administration under a number of roles. He has vocally defended many Jan. 6 rioters who were charged for their actions that day.
Patel has said he would target journalists, former senior FBI and Department of Justice officials and turn the FBI into a museum for the “deep state” on Day 1.
“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,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, announcing his pick.
Patel did not immediately comment about Trump’s announcement. Trump can not make personnel changes to the FBI until he is sworn in.
Wray, the current agency director, was appointed in 2017 after Trump fired Director James Comey, less than four years into his 10-year term. Trump claimed Comey “wasn’t doing a good job.”
In a statement to ABC News, the FBI said “Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats. Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do the work for.”
Former public defender with experience at DOJ
Patel, 44, grew up in Long Island and earned a law degree from Pace University Law School. He first served as a public defender in Miami for nine years before moving to Washington, D.C., in 2013 to work at the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Patel left the Justice Department in 2017 claiming frustration with the agency, especially with the handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Role investigating the Russia probe
He went on to lead the “Russia Gate” investigation for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, with a promise from Nunes that after the investigation he would help Patel get a job at the National Security Council in the White House.
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