WASHINGTON – Kash Patel, a staunch ally of President-elect Donald Trump and former federal prosecutor who Trump announced as his nominee for FBI director, is facing criticism from Democrats over previous vows to “come after” people in the media and so-called “deep state.”
Patel, 44, is the author of “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” a book which features a list of “members of the executive branch deep state.”
The list includes President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as former Trump administration officials such as former Attorney General William Barr and current FBI Director Christopher Wray.
In an appearance on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s podcast last year, Patel pledged to target government officials and journalists who he baselessly alleged stole the 2020 presidential election from Trump. “Yes, we’re gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections,” he said.
Wray is currently serving a ten-year term atop the bureau and cannot be replaced unless he is fired or steps down.
Trump nominated Wray in 2017 after firing then-FBI Director James Comey, who was investigating alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Wray was easily confirmed by the Senate in a 92-5 vote.
Wray has increasingly drawn Trump’s ire in recent years, especially as the FBI ramped up an investigation into Trump’s possession of classified documents in 2022 and raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
This year, Trump sued the Department of Justice for $100 million over the raid, accusing Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland of “malicious political prosecution aimed at affecting an electoral outcome to prevent President Trump from being re-elected” in a notice to the FBI and DOJ obtained by NBC News in August.
Senate Democrats have expressed widespread opposition to the nomination, warning that Patel would weaponize the intelligence agency for political purposes.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Medill News Service he had serious concerns about Patel. “He’s accused them of political weaponization of law enforcement and then promised to deliver exactly the same thing if he’s given this opportunity,” he said.
In response to Patel’s promise to target officials who helped Joe Biden rig elections, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he wasn’t sure who exactly Patel was talking about. “The people that have perpetrated that lie have generally been sued in court and found guilty of libel,” he said. “Who’s he talking about, Vladimir Putin?”
At a press conference following the Democratic Senate leadership elections, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for all of Trump’s nominees to undergo the same “fair and thorough consideration” as previous nominees of presidents from both parties — namely a full FBI background check that could be reviewed by the Senate, full Senate hearings where nominees are questioned and a Senate vote.
Assuming every Democratic Senator votes against the nominee, Patel will need nearly all Republicans to vote for him to be confirmed, as the party’s majority in the chamber allows for just three holdouts.
Trump’s plan to replace Wray with Patel has been met with support from several Republican Senators, while others instead praised Wray’s work at the FBI.
Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said they would support Patel, with Cruz calling him “a very strong nominee” in an appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on ABC News’s “This Week,” said he had “no objections” to how Wray has handled himself, but added that “the president has the right to make nominations.”
Other Republican Senators, including two who face difficult re-election battles in 2026, Susan Collins, R-Maine. and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said they would have to do more research during the confirmation process before deciding on Patel.
Patel’s nomination will be formally initiated if Wray leaves the position.
