Kashyap (in short, Kash) Patel’s confirmation as the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), on February 20, the same day marking President Donald Trump’s successful 30-Days In Office and despite Democrat’s vociferous opposition, was seen and celebrated by the Conservative world as simply an icing on the early successes of the Trump 2.0 Administration.
The vote, which was along party lines, went through inspite of opposition from two senior Republican senators, Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). Rather than to support Trump’s and their own party’s nominee, they instead, aligned themselves with Democrats to vote against the confirmation.
Patel, a staunch Trump loyalist and supporter will now be the 9th Director and Chief law enforcer heading the most premier law enforcement agency in the country, if not the world.
The Conservative firebrand who assumes control will now lead an agency that has lost confidence in the eyes of the general public and is also gripped by turmoil.
Furthermore, Patel is a known open critic of the FBI, not as an institution but rather, of its operations under previous leadership specifically that of James Comey and later, his lieutenants, Andrew McCabe and Christopher Ray, who each assumed leadership in successive successions.
James Comey has been, in large, seen as the instigator of lawlessness within the current bureau, a culture which has persisted since his expulsion by President Trump in May 2017. He is also seen as being responsible for instilling unconventional ways of operation and upped defiance against set standards and otherwise institutional norms of operation.
Patel was nominated by then President-Elect Donald Trump to replace then incumbent FBI Director, Christopher Wray who, despite being picked By Trump to replace Comey, would later turn against him. Wray authorized the now infamous Mar-a-Lago raids and initiated countless investigations against Conservatives, Christians and parents, even going further labelling them as “right-wing radicals”…”domestic terrorists” and “White supremacists” just to name a few.
Wray later resigned unceremoniously at the conclusion of the Biden administration and before his term was up, to make way for his chosen successor.
Patel has a long distinguished career with the Justice Department and Law Enforcement, as a lawyer, public defender and counter-terrorism prosecutor. He was also Chief of Staff to the Defense Secretary and an official at the National Security Council during Trump’s first term.
With Patel’s confirmation, Trump 2.0’s Cabinet is nearly complete. This leaves only three other nominees to be confirmed, that is, Trump’s pick for the U.S. Ambassador to the UN (Rep. Elise Stefanik), Department of Education Secretary (Linda McMahon) and Labour Secretary. They are Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Linda McMahon and former Congresswoman (R-OR),Lori Chavez-DeRemer, respectively.
Kashyap, otherwise commonly known as “Kash” Patel, is a first generation Hindu American to lead the most prestigious and premier law enforcement agency in the world. He is the son of Hindu refugees from East Africa who were escaping persecution of Indians in Uganda at the time. His father is from Uganda and his mother from Tanzania.
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