Who is Kash Patel? What qualifies him to lead the FBI? If he has carried a weapon, or apprehended someone, it's not being featured. It seems he's been an office lawyer, doing trial work. And a Trump administration public servant.
(But don't skip out on a cash bond, as the bondsmen have street cred, having gotten out of the office to apprehend people. At gunpoint as needed.)
Kash apparently never was on the street doing "at gunpoint" activity, but will become top boss of those doing the basic work of apprehending bad actors on the street.
If confirmed to head the FBI, he could end up having the status to define who is/is not a bad actor, keeping files. IMO Kash, if confirmed, will handle things with Trump dictating, Kash performing. How the FBI reacts will reflect the attention Trump gives things, and the attention Kash gives as a loyal conduit over who to feature, what info to seek, where the info goes, and how the info gets used.
Apprehension rates may go down as those learning the Bureau and thinking long term could make their own political discretionary decisions to not apprehend but look as if trying. Kash would never know if he were being played that way, as his MO seems to be staying in the office; theorizing.
Kash saying Trump declassified things: Nobody believed that, except if the act of taking stuff and holding on somehow was de facto declassification, when it was Trump doing it. Which it was not because what was actually taken to MaL has been treated as too sensitive, one way or the other, to gain public exposure.
"Kash Bond" is a fiction as much as James Bond. But he is useful to Trump, more so, if he were better equipped. But Trump's dog, never biting the hand. He's not like Hegseth, who actually carried a weapon. And used it. Hegseth has a will to confront things. Patel seems to have a will to advance his status, by taking instruction from Turmp, never questioning. For that, both aspects, he is dangerous.
That is all IMO. I've never met the man. What I know of him is from what is reported. Have you seen any reporting of Kash ever really being his own man?
Kash Patel speaks at a Turn Point USA event
outside the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Arena in
Milwauke, Wis., on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Kash Patel,President-elect Trump’s nominee
to lead the FBI, [,,,] regularly refers to the FBI as part of the “Deep State” and has
described many of Trump’s adversaries as “government gangsters” who must
be “held accountable and exposed.”
But among proposals to more swiftly declassify records and change
government surveillance programs, the biggest concern from former FBI
and Justice Department officials is that the agency could lose its
independence, fearful that the bureau could be tasked with carrying out
politically motivated investigations by a president who has said he will
“go after” his perceived enemies.
“One thing that I think people lose sight of, and the senators need
to really kind of refocus on, is the fact that our justice system works
because the [...] FBI is not the president’s kind of private
investigative firm, right? It’s the public’s
investigative-slash-national security investigative arm,” said Greg
Brower, [...] “And I think nominees are going to have to convince the senators that
they understand that and that that’s the reality for very good
reasons,” added Brower, who also served as head of the FBI’s legislative
affairs office under Trump.
“The rhetoric doesn’t even pay lip service to that concept.”
That former Trump FBI official's quoted words are dismissive of Patel and "the rhetoric" of political witch hunting. The viewpoint is anticipatory of a possible Patel role as Trump attack dog. Not generally favorable towards Patel.
Patel was instrumental in drafting the Nunes memo in 2018, which alleged errors in the FBI
application for a surveillance warrant of Trump's 2016 campaign aide.
Following his departure from government service, Patel has promoted
several pro-Trump conspiracy theories and branded merchandise under the
logotype 'K$H'.
[...] In 2017, Patel was appointed senior counsel on counterterrorism at the House Intelligence Committee.[12][10][b]
Senior aide to House Intelligence Committee chair, Nunes (2017 - 2018)
In April 2017, Patel became the senior committee aide to House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes.[17][18]
Patel played a prominent role in the Republican opposition to the
investigations into Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016
election.[18][19]
According to The New York Times, Patel was the primary author of the 2018 Nunes memo, alleging FBI misconduct in its application for a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for electronic surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.[20]
That claim was disputed by the committee's staff director, by a
spokesman for Nunes, and by unattributed sources interviewed by India Abroad. Patel did not offer a public comment on the matter.[16]The New York Times
opined that the memo was widely dismissed as "biased" containing
"cherry-picked facts", but "it galvanized President Trump's allies and
made Mr. Patel a hero among them".[21]
Within months of Patel's appointment to the NSC, it was suspected
that Patel had assumed the role of an additional independent back
channel for the President, which was seen as potentially detrimental to
American policy in Ukraine. It was noticed that during NSC meetings
Patel took few notes and was underqualified for his portfolio, the
United Nations.[21][24]
Red flags were raised when Trump referred to Patel as "one of his
top Ukraine policy specialists" and as such wished "to discuss related
documents with him". Patel's actual assignment was counter-terrorism
issues, rather than Ukraine. He was thought to have operated
independently of Rudy Giuliani's irregular, informal channel. Impeachment inquiry witnesses were asked what they knew about Patel. [...]
On December 3, 2019, the House Intelligence Committee's report included
phone records, acquired via subpoenas to AT&T and/or Verizon,
including a 25-minute phone call between Patel and Giuliani on May 10,
2019.[33]: 58
The call occurred after Giuliani and Patel attempted to call each other
for several hours, and less than an hour after a call between Giuliani
and Kurt Volker.[33]: 58
Five minutes after the 25-minute call between Giuliani and Patel, an
unidentified phone number called Giuliani for over 17 minutes, after
which Giuliani called his associate Lev Parnas for approximately 12 minutes.[33]: 58
In a statement to CBS News on December 4, 2019, Patel denied being part
of Giuliani's Ukraine back-channel, saying he was "never a back channel
to President Trump on Ukraine matters, at all, ever",[34] and that his call with Giuliani was "personal".[35]
On June 19, 2022, Trump sent a letter to the National Archives naming Patel and John Solomon as "representatives for access to Presidential records of my administration".[51] In 2022, Patel created Fight With Kash, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity, to raise donations for "helping other people" in need, though more specifically to bring "America First patriots" together and "helping fight the Deep State". Patel said he "funded whistleblowers campaigns", which Democrats on the Republican-controlled House Judiciary weaponization subcommittee said included former FBI employees the FBI claimed endorse "an alarming series of conspiracy theories related to the January 6 Capitol attack ... and the validity of the 2020 election". During a December 2023 appearance on Steve Bannon's
"War Room" podcast, Patel concurred with Bannon's assertions that
Donald Trump is "dead serious" about his intent to seek revenge against
his political enemies should he be elected in 2024. Patel stated:
"We will go out and find the conspirators — not just in
government, but in the media ... we're going to come after the people in
the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig
presidential elections ... We're going to come after you. Whether it's
criminally or civilly, we'll figure that out. But yeah, we're putting
you all on notice, and Steve, this is why they hate us. This is why
we're tyrannical. This is why we're dictators ... Because we're actually
going to use the Constitution to prosecute them for crimes they said we
have always been guilty of but never have."[52]
Patel's remarks came during concurrent reporting in The New York Times
about "a series of plans by Mr. Trump and his allies that would upend
core elements of American governance, democracy, foreign policy and the rule of law if he regained the White House". Axios reported days later that Patel was being considered for a top national security position in a second Trump administration.[52][53][54]
That last one, it's feasible, and calling it "conspiracy theory" is aimed to discredit it as being possible. There is not yet any full credible body of information surfacing that Jan 6 events were staged, that some damage was allowed to happen; but troubling as it is there is the Q-Anon Shaman video footage. And contingency plans for promptly exiting and hiding Congress members, both Houses, went so very smoothly. Then, the "deep state" is real depending on how you define it. Those to whom Gabbard is nominated to lead are not noted for their openness, candor, transparency of motives and actions, nor for deferential timid attitudes. And, finally, I only cast my one ballot while never counting any in the 2020 election. That said, Wikipedia, continuing:
Patel has expanded on his view of a deep state in the United States in his 2023 book Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy, which Trump praised as a "roadmap to end the Deep State's reign".[62][64]
Patel has actively promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory. On Truth Social, Patel promoted an account with the handle @Q, which distributed messages related to the conspiratorial movement. According to Media Matters,
Patel has shared an image featuring a flaming Q on it and has gone on
multiple Qanon shows in order to urge members to join Truth Social.[63]
Crabgrass has not read that Government Gangsters book, so generally, no comment. However a web search about an enemies list returned, e.g.:
There is more in the Wiki item, but the quote is already lengthy. Quoted matters suggests alert Senators have much about which Patel could be questioned during public confirmation hearings. And that answers would relate strongly toward whether he should head the FBI. Changing the FBI? From what, to what? Leave it there.
