Reactions have come fast and hard following Kash Patel's nomination to lead the FBI. Donald Trump made the selection amid years of corruption and abuse within the nation's top law enforcement agency, citing Patel's role in uncovering the Russian collusion hoax.
To be sure, though, his resume extends much further, having held numerous high-level positions in the Pentagon, DOJ, and NSC. Anyone claiming he's not "qualified" is simply not telling the truth.
When someone tells you Kash Patel is unqualified, be sure to show them his resume.
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) December 1, 2024
(Spoiler: he is very, very qualified) pic.twitter.com/xqN3pBHihn
Still, some are trying to make that case by sharing a quote from Bill Barr's 2022 tell-all book in which he trashed Patel as having "virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency." At the time, Barr was referring to the possibility of Patel becoming deputy director at the FBI.
I categorically opposed making Patel deputy FBI director. I told Mark Meadows it would happen "over my dead body." In the first place, all the leadership positions in the bureau, except the director, have always been FBI agents. They've all gone through the same agent training and have had broad experience in the field and at headquarters. Someone with no background as an agent would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day-to-day operations of the bureau. Furthermore, Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency.
If I could only write one more sentence for this article, it would be this: I can't think of a better endorsement for Patel to serve as FBI director than that.
Fortunately, I can write a few more, and I've got just a few things to say. First, the idea that the FBI should perpetually staff itself is exactly how it became a corrupt agency more intent on protecting "the shield" and damaging its political enemies than serving the American people. The bureau is not a fourth branch of government, free from the confines of the accountability of voters.
Trump was not elected to keep the status quo rolling, and those using Barr's 2022 quote to try to attack Patel's nomination should realize they are irrelevant. No one cares about "norms" when those norms have produced the targeting of Christians, the arrest of pro-lifers for expressing free speech, and the surveilling of parents at school board meetings. Never mind the litany of FBI figures such as Andrew McCabe and Peter Strzok, who have been exposed as corrupt partisans who abused their power to try to take down Trump.
SEE: Andrew McCabe Throws a Fit on CNN After Trump Nominates Kash Patel for FBI Director
To put it frankly, the FBI has forfeited any right to claim sovereignty and "independence." Too much has transpired, and if any of the rank-and-file have a problem with the coming reforms, they are welcome to quit.
Further, the fact that so many left-wingers are freaking out only serves as more evidence that Patel is the right man for the job.
They are terrified for a reason. pic.twitter.com/jAraLa1gt6
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 1, 2024
No, we aren't heading for a "constitutional crisis" because the FBI is not a constitutional agency. It is a bloated, corrupt bureaucracy under the direct leadership of the president and one in desperate need of a house cleaning. It is not in question whether the bureau has abused its power to go after the political enemies of the left. That demands a reckoning, and a reckoning is coming whether the Beltway elites like it or not.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member