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All you need to know about Kash Patel is that he was confirmed as the newest director of the FBI by a Senate vote of 51-49 — and that after Democrats dragged their heels for weeks — while his predecessors enjoyed nearly unanimous support. Why, it’s almost like he’s a swamp drainer rather than a card-carrying member.
Think I’m exaggerating? Check out the confirmation votes of every previous FBI director:
Christopher Wray (2017): 92-5
James Comey (2013): 93-1
Robert Mueller (2001): 98-0
William Sessions (1987): 90-0
Clarence Kelley (1973): 96-0
William Webster (1978) and Louis Freeh (1993) were confirmed with no roll call vote at all. Freeh went on to lead the FBI through Waco and Ruby Ridge. And that’s to say nothing of J. Edgar Hoover, the original deep state politicizer of the FBI. He was the bureau’s first director and did not need Senate confirmation, though he held his post for nearly half a century.
But Kash Patel is the problem!
Give me a break.
Patel served in multiple national security roles during Donald Trump’s first administration. Though he did not rise through the FBI ranks, he played a key role in uncovering the deep state coup attempt via the Russia collusion hoax. Our Douglas Andrews analyzed his nomination back in December, and I’ll quote a critical chunk of it:
Patel is not only highly competent, as his public service career to date suggests; he’s also a disruptor and a reformer. And if any agency under the American sun is in desperate need of reform, it’s the Trump-hating, two-tiered-justice-distributing FBI. Indeed, former agents have called for the dismantling of the bureau.
This, after all, is the same FBI that in recent years concocted and carried out the Russia collusion hoax; that lied on a FISA warrant application so it could spy on Donald Trump and his entire campaign team; that entrapped a bunch of “pro-Trump” rabble in a phony kidnapping plot against Michigan’s Democrat governor less than a month before the 2020 election; that sat on Hunter Biden’s laptop for nearly a year before the 2020 election; that colluded with Facebook and pre-Musk Twitter to censor the New York Post’s laptop bombshell two weeks before the election; that helped push the Gang of 51’s “Russian disinformation” letter even though it had already authenticated the laptop; that targeted parents who attended school board meetings because they were concerned about CRT and other hard-left ideologies being taught in their children’s schools; that targeted “radical-traditionalist Catholics” in their churches; that repeatedly targeted peaceful pro-life activists; that unlawfully seized the cellphone of a Trump-allied congressman and retired brigadier general; that gave two Republican senators a phony “defensive briefing” about Russian disinformation when they were investigating Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Ukraine and other countries; that placed numerous agents provocateur at the January 6 protest-turned-riot and continues to stonewall Congress about it; that conducted an armed raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and rifled through the first lady’s underwear drawer because of a documents dispute with the National Archives; that intentionally screened out conservatives and Trump supporters in its hiring practices; and that cracked down on pro-Trump agents and patriotic whistleblowers within the bureau.
In short, if the FBI is to survive as any semblance of a legitimate law enforcement agency, changes must be made. The thousands of good and competent agents and employees deserve no less. “I’ve overwhelmingly said multiple times that 98% of the FBI is courageous, apolitical warriors of justice,” Patel told the senators considering his nomination. Those warriors certainly must be angered by all the political shenanigans of a relative few bad apples.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said, “Change is coming to the seventh floor of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, and that is a good thing.” Yes, it is.
During his confirmation hearing, Patel said, “There will be no politicization at the FBI.” That would be the biggest change of all for a bureau that has nearly always been politicized. “The erosion of trust is evident,” he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed one day ahead of confirmation hearings. “Only 40% of Americans hold a favorable view of the FBI.”
After his confirmation yesterday, he posted on X, “The American people deserve an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice. The politicalization of our justice system has eroded public trust — but that ends today.” He added, “My mission as Director is clear: let good cops be cops — and rebuild trust in the FBI.”
In other words, he understands the problem.
It’s no wonder Democrats can’t stand him. “I cannot imagine a worse choice,” huffed Senator Dick Durbin. “Patel will be a political and national security disaster,” he added. “What is at stake is the future of the FBI.” Good.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, who famously lied about serving in Vietnam, warned Republicans, “This vote will haunt anyone who votes for him. They will rue the day they did it.”
“This is someone we cannot trust,” added Senator Adam Schiff, who practically wrote the book on being someone we cannot trust. His lies about the Russia collusion hoax and Trump’s impeachments are too numerous to count.
I’d say the opposition of those particular Democrats serves as a ringing endorsement. The same goes for the only Republicans to oppose him — drumroll, please — Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
I’ll conclude with Patel’s own conclusion: “Mission First. America Always. Let’s get to work.”
Follow Nate Jackson on X/Twitter.
