Trump announces that he intends to replace current FBI director with Kash Patel

() – The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Saturday that he intends to choose Kash Patel to serve as the next director of the FBI.

Current FBI Director Christopher Wray would have to resign or be fired to create a vacancy. Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 and has three years left in his 10-year term.

“I am proud to announce that Kashyap ‘Kash’ Patel will be the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice and protecting the American people,” Trump posted on Truth Social this Saturday night.

“Kash will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to restore fidelity, courage and integrity to the FBI,” Trump added.

Trump appointed Wray in 2017 after firing James Comey, but began to grow disillusioned with Wray before leaving office in 2021. Trump’s opinion of the FBI only worsened after his Mar-a-Lago resort was raided in August. 2022, and Trump was later impeached for allegedly withholding classified documents.

Even among Trump loyalists, Patel is widely seen as a controversial figure and tireless self-promoter, whose value derives largely from a shared disdain for the so-called “Deep State.”

Patel rose to prominence within Trump’s circle in 2018, when he served as an aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee at the time. Patel played a key role in Nunes’ efforts to discredit the FBI’s Russia investigation into the Trump campaign, including a controversial classified memo that alleged FBI abuses in Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act orders on Trump advisers. .

In 2019, Patel worked for Trump on the National Security Council before becoming chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense at the end of Trump’s first term.

When Trump considered firing then-CIA Director Gina Haspel after the 2020 election, while pushing to release more information about the Russia investigation, Patel was considered a possible replacement.

Although that never materialized, Patel has remained a constant figure in Trump’s circle, although his proximity to the president-elect has fluctuated.

Mixed opinions about Patel among those close to Trump have been on display during the transition process, as he was passed over for the CIA director job, a role for which sources said he had actively campaigned.

This story has been updated with additional information.