Trump breaks presidential norms and traditions with FBI pick

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed MAGA loyalist Kash Patel to lead the FBI, despite the fact that incoming presidents don’t typically appoint new FBI directors.

Congress passed the Crime and Control Act in 1976, setting a ten-year term-limit for FBI directors. The law was a response to J. Edgar Hoover’s nearly 40-year reign atop the bureau, during which he often used his office to advance his personal agenda and intimidate political opponents.

Current FBI Director Christopher Wray’s term ends in 2027. In order for Patel to be installed, Trump would need to fire Wray and Patel would need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Only two previous FBI directors were ousted before their term ended.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton asked FBI Director William S. Sessions to resign. A Justice Department investigation found that Sessions used government resources for personal use, such as using FBI planes for family vacations. He was replaced by Louis Freeah.

In 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for refusing to squash an investigation into alleged collusion between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russian assets. Comey said Trump also pressured him to drop an investigation into former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, a close Trump ally.

Trump replaced Comey with Wray.

Under Wray’s leadership, the FBI has participated in multiple investigations into Trump.

In August 2022, the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and recovered several classified documents that Trump had illegally pilfered from the White House. Trump was later indicted for possessing the documents. The charges were dismissed in July by Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon.

Patel is a former federal prosecutor who worked in the Department of Defense during Trump’s first term. In 2021, he claimed Trump was immune from prosecution in the documents case because of an obscure, widely dismissed legal theory that claims presidents can declassify information at will.

In 2023, Patel wrote the book “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” which propagated several far-right conspiracy theories, including that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

While promoting the book, Patel said in an interview with Steve Bannon that the federal government under Trump would prosecute journalists and Trump’s political rivals.

“We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media,” Patel said. 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, we’ll figure that out. But, yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.” 

Patel is also the founder of a nonprofit that provides financial assistance to convicted Jan. 6 rioters and their families. 

Charles Kupperman, a former national security adviser to Trump, told the Wall Street Journal that Patel is unfit to lead the FBI.

“He’s absolutely unqualified for the job,” Kupperman said. “He’s untrustworthy. It’s an absolute disgrace to American citizens to even consider an individual of this nature.”

A Trump transition team spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story.