US Senate confirms Trump loyalist Kash Patel to head FBI

WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled US Senate on Feb 20 confirmed Kash Patel, a staunch loyalist of President Donald Trump, to be director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the country’s top law enforcement agency.

Mr Patel, 44, whose nomination sparked fierce but ultimately futile opposition from Democrats, was approved by a 51-49 vote.

The vote was split along party lines with the exception of two Republican senators, Ms Susan Collins of Maine and Ms Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted not to confirm Mr Patel to head the 38,000-strong FBI.

Mr Patel drew fire from Democrats for his promotion of conspiracy theories, his defence of pro-Trump rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, and his vow to root out members of a supposed “deep state” plotting to oppose the Republican president.

The Senate has approved all of Mr Trump’s Cabinet picks so far, underscoring his iron grip on the Republican Party.

Among them is Ms Tulsi Gabbard, confirmed as the nation’s spy chief despite past support for adversarial nations including Russia and Syria, and vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr to be health secretary.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, in a last-ditch bid to derail Mr Patel’s nomination, held a press conference outside FBI headquarters in downtown Washington on Feb 20 and warned that he would be “a political and national security disaster” as FBI chief.

Speaking later on the Senate floor, Mr Durbin said Mr Patel was “dangerously, politically extreme”.

“He has repeatedly expressed his intention to use our nation’s most important law enforcement agency to retaliate against his political enemies,” he said.

Mr Patel, who holds a law degree from Pace University and worked as a federal prosecutor, replaces Mr Christopher Wray, who was named FBI director by Mr Trump during his first term in office.

Relations between Mr Wray and Mr Trump became strained, however, and though he had three more years remaining in his 10-year tenure,

Mr Wray resigned

after Mr Trump won November’s presidential election.

‘Enemies list’

A son of Indian immigrants, the New York-born Mr Patel served in several high-level posts during Mr Trump’s first administration, including as senior director for counter-terrorism on the National Security Council and as chief of staff to the acting defence secretary.

There were fiery exchanges at

Mr Patel’s confirmation hearing

in January as Democrats brought up a list of 60 supposed “deep state” actors – all critics of Mr Trump – he included in a 2022 book, whom he said should be investigated or “otherwise reviled”.

Mr Patel has denied that he has an “enemies list” and told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was merely interested in bringing lawbreakers to book.

“All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution,” he said.

The FBI has been in turmoil since Mr Trump took office and a number of agents have been fired or demoted, including some involved in the prosecutions of Mr Trump for seeking to overturn the 2020 election results and mishandling classified documents.

Nine FBI agents have sued the Justice Department, seeking to block efforts to collect information on agents who were involved in investigating Mr Trump and the attack on the Capitol by his supporters.

In their complaint, the FBI agents said the effort to collect information on employees who participated in the investigations was part of a “purge” orchestrated by Mr Trump as “politically motivated retribution”.

Mr Trump, on his first day in the White House, pardoned more than 1,500 of his supporters who stormed Congress in a bid to block certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory. AFP