Conspiracy theorist Kash Patel was confirmed to steer the FBI on Thursday, cementing President Donald Trump’s grip on federal legislation enforcement.
Senate Republicans confirmed him by a vote of 51 to 49, with two GOP defectors. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joined all 47 Democrats in voting “no,” citing deep issues over Patel’s partisan loyalties and potential abuses of energy.
“[T]here is a compelling need for an FBI Director who is decidedly apolitical,” mentioned Collins in a press launch asserting she wouldn’t verify his nomination. “Mr. Patel has made numerous politically charged statements in his book and elsewhere discrediting the work of the FBI, the very institution he has been nominated to lead. These statements … cast doubt on Mr. Patel’s ability to advance the FBI’s law enforcement mission in a way that is free from the appearance of political motivation.”
Nevertheless, these issues weren’t sufficient to cease different Republicans, and now Patel will oversee all the things from cybersecurity to terrorist threats to overseas intelligence operations. Patel will even be answerable for steering investigations of crimes and public corruption—one thing Trump may be accustomed to.
Since Trump introduced his nomination, Patel’s introduction to the nationwide political stage has been rife with controversy and conflicts of curiosity.
Democrats spent weeks elevating the alarms about Patel’s unsettling views on political retribution. He seemingly perjured himself over his hand in FBI firings orchestrated by the Trump administration. And he despatched chills down Democrats’ spines over nationwide safety issues from the gutting of Division of Justice and FBI officers.
“Kash Patel has been personally directing the ongoing purge of career civil servants at the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois wrote in a letter to an inspector common within the Division of Justice.
Patel infamously revealed his 2023 guide, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” through which he listed the names of 60 folks and known as them members of the “deep state.” He has mentioned favorable issues about QAnon, a weird pro-Trump conspiracy concept. He additionally wrote three kids’s books portraying Trump as a literal king.
Earlier than his nomination, Patel was a key determine in spreading conspiracy theories concerning the 2020 election. And in December, Patel publicly ignored questions from reporters that Trump’s Justice Division spied on Democratic members of Congress and their aides in 2017 and 2018.
Patel’s affirmation follows a development of sycophants and deplorables being confirmed to roles in Trump’s administration. Pete Hegseth, who has been accused of rape, now runs the Division of Protection. Anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leads the Division of Well being and Human Companies. And former Florida Lawyer Common Pam Bondi, finest identified for refusing to analyze Trump’s for-profit college after she obtained a marketing campaign donation, heads the Division of Justice.
Patel is simply the newest Trump loyalist to take a seat accountable for a important American establishment. Solely time will inform what injury he’ll convey to the federal authorities and society at giant.
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