Kash Patel, the FBI and Retribution
The country doesn’t want or need a GOP version of the Comey bureau.
Donald Trump is riling Washington again with his weekend announcement that he’ll nominate Kash Patel to run the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The question for the Senate will be whether Mr. Patel wants to make the FBI more accountable or use it to pursue political retribution.
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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The press is making a fuss that current FBI director Christopher Wray still has three years left on his 10-year term. Congress wanted the director to be able to serve beyond presidential terms, but Mr. Trump still has the authority under the Constitution to dismiss the director before his term ends.
We advised Mr. Trump in January 2017 to fire then-director James Comey, but the President thought his height made him look like the classic G-man. Mr. Trump eventually fired Mr. Comey that spring after much self-imposed political damage.
Mr. Wray, who was appointed by Mr. Trump to succeed Mr. Comey, has resisted Congressional demands for more bureau transparency. He’d be wise to say he’ll resign when a replacement is confirmed rather than get into a legal fight he is likely to lose.
The FBI’s abuses under Mr. Comey were the worst since J. Edgar Hoover. As documented by the Justice Department inspector general and special counsel John Durham, officials lied to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to get a warrant against Trump campaign official Carter Page. They also lied about the disinformation in the Steele dossier, which was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Mr. Patel worked for GOP Rep. Devin Nunes on the House Intelligence Committee at the time, and he helped uncover some of these abuses. He contributed to the Nunes Memo that the press criticized but turned out to be largely accurate. The deceit at the time was spread by Democrat Adam Schiff, now a California Senator. Messrs. Nunes and Patel were unfairly maligned.
It no doubt infuriates those who promoted the Russia collusion narrative to see Mr. Patel nominated to run the FBI, but abusing institutions for political purposes inevitably creates a demand for potential payback. The apologists for the Comey FBI and the Russia collusion narrative made a director Patel possible.
That doesn’t mean Republican Senators should rubber stamp this nomination. While Mr. Patel has experience in intelligence and defense, he hasn’t worked as an FBI agent. The FBI’s main responsibility remains fighting crime, and Mr. Patel’s experience on that score is thin. That’s one reason Bill Barr writes in his memoir that as Attorney General he objected to Mr. Trump’s desire to make Mr. Patel the FBI deputy director in his first term. “Over my dead body” is how Mr. Barr says he put it.
Former national security adviser Robert O’Brien praises Mr. Patel, who worked with him. But it’s notable that John Bolton, Mr. O’Brien’s predecessor, compares Mr. Patel to a Soviet police chief and says the Senate should reject him 100-0. The Senate will have to explore those contrasting views.
The main concern is Mr. Patel’s stated desire to use power in a second Trump term to seek revenge against Mr. Trump’s opponents. Speaking on provocateur Steve Bannon’s podcast in 2023, Mr. Patel said he’d follow “the facts and the law.”
But he also said “we will go out and find the conspirators not just in government, but in the media. Yes, 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.”
Mr. Bannon brings out the worst in people, but the Senate has an obligation to explore if this is what Mr. Patel really intends. As damaging as the FBI of Mr. Comey, Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok was, special counsel Durham investigated the FBI actions and largely decided not to prosecute. Does Mr. Patel still want to unleash the FBI on Democrats and media critics—a la Hoover?
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Down that road lies no end of political trouble for Republicans and the Trump Presidency, as the effort is sure to backfire. Voters didn’t re-elect Mr. Trump to practice lawfare the way his opponents have. The country wants a bureau it can trust, not a Republican version of the Comey FBI.
Presidents deserve deference on the advisers they want, but the Senate plays a crucial role in weeding out bad choices. GOP Senators did Mr. Trump a favor by warning him about Matt Gaetz as AG. Law enforcement and security posts with their vast power deserve particular scrutiny, Mr. Patel included.
JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT: THERE’S PLENTY TO DO BEYOND ABOLISHING THE DEPARTMENT. PHOTO: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS
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Appeared in the December 2, 2024, print edition as ‘Kash Patel, the FBI and Retribution’.
This time the prosecutions will be both moral and legal. Justice is not retribution. It just feels like it when you are guilty as hell.
In life we’ve seen that retribution is served by the outlaw, by the unjust. So it seems the word itself is their invention.
Oh yeah!!!! Let it begin…….:)