Steve Neavling
Hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice for FBI director, alarm spread through the ranks of current and former government officials.
The source of their fear: Kash Patel, a staunch Trump loyalist who has made a career of accusing federal agencies of harboring anti-Trump conspiracies.
Patel, who Trump selected to lead the bureau, has publicly labeled dozens of people as members of the so-called “deep state.” In his memoir, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth and the Battle for Our Democracy,” Patel claimed a shadowy network of federal officials worked against Trump during his presidency. Now, many of those same officials fear they could be targets under Patel’s leadership.
In conversations with NBC News, a dozen current and former officials from the Justice Department, FBI, and intelligence agencies voiced deep concern that Patel would use his position to pursue criminal investigations against Trump’s perceived enemies — potentially including themselves.
The fears were compounded Wednesday when the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Subcommittee formally requested that the FBI investigate former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., for her role on the House committee that probed Trump’s actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. The move came just days after Trump, in an interview with NBC News, called members of the Jan. 6 committee “political thugs” who “should go to jail.”
Cheney dismissed the request as baseless in a post on Bluesky, accusing Trump and his allies of “fabricating lies and defamatory allegations to cover up what Donald Trump did.”
For those familiar with Patel’s track record, the concerns run deeper than partisan politics. A former federal public defender and Justice Department prosecutor, Patel first rose to prominence as a congressional staffer for then-Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Patel authored a controversial memo accusing FBI officials of abusing their power during an investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign.
While some of Patel’s claims about surveillance abuses were later substantiated, the Justice Department’s inspector general found no evidence that political bias influenced the FBI’s Russia investigation.
Patel has since become a vocal proponent of Trump’s baseless claims of widespread conspiracies against him, fueling his rise within Trump’s orbit. Critics argue Patel lacks the managerial experience necessary to lead the FBI and warn that his leadership could compromise the bureau’s independence, as well as lead to an exodus.
“I have received calls from lifers who are putting in their papers,” said a former FBI official, who asked not to be named, citing fears of retaliation. “Agents will continue to do their jobs. They will follow the rule of law and the Constitution. It is the circus that they want to avoid.”
Patel has hinted at his priorities if confirmed, signaling that investigations into Trump’s adversaries could be on the table. His nomination has received strong support from Republican senators, despite widespread criticism from legal experts and former FBI officials.
The potential consequences of a Patel-led FBI weigh heavily on those who’ve worked in the federal government.
“If the Attorney General and the FBI Director seem to resist doing what he makes clear he wants, he will attack them publicly in social media posts and through conservative media pundits, to bring pressure on them,” a former DOJ official said. “We saw that with Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, and he will do it again. Ultimately, he will fire the Attorney General and the FBI Director or force them out if they don’t do what he wants.”
