President Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, has known as on leaders to weaken highly effective profession bureaucrats in Washington for years, referring to them as a part of the “deep state” and politically motivated federal investigators, specifically, as “gangsters.”
If confirmed, he may very well be the one spearheading these reforms.
Nicole Parker, a former FBI particular agent who spent greater than 12 years with the bureau, has a number of concepts on the place to start out.
“There was a palpable disconnect between the road brokers and management in Washington, D.C.,” she instructed Fox Information Digital. “These observations inform my perception that the FBI is presently affected by a definite lack of management and that the way forward for the FBI can be immediately tied to how the following director solves the company’s issues.”
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President Donald Trump has named longtime ally Kashyap “Kash” Patel, who has been a frequent and harsh critic of the FBI, to function the bureau’s subsequent director within the new administration. (Reuters/File)
Patel outlined a few of his critiques of alleged corruption inside “the everlasting authorities forms” in a 2023 guide, “Authorities Gangsters: The Deep State, the Fact, and the Battle for Our Democracy.”
Parker, who stated she has solely met Patel in passing, instructed Fox Information Digital that the following director can be tasked with restoring the FBI’s “credibility” within the public eye after years of accusations that some investigations have been politically motivated to focus on conservatives, together with Trump himself.
She recognized 5 areas the place she believes a brand new director could make an impression on his first day on the job.
“On day one, the following FBI director ought to start implementing a plan to revive integrity inside the company,” she instructed Fox Information Digital.
1. Herald new brass
“The primary, most vital activity is to nominate strong leaders on the manager group and all through your entire FBI,” she stated.
Candidates needs to be sturdy leaders with an emphasis on integrity.
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President Donald Trump and first girl Melania Trump board Air Pressure One on Jan. 24, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for a visit to North Carolina and California. (AP Picture/Mark Schiefelbein)
They need to be devoted to “strict adherence to the Structure, moderately than [to] private biases and agendas and variety,” she stated.
2. Reform ‘inner tradition’
The bureau ought to focus extra on the wants of victims, Parker stated.
“The executive HQ in Washington, D.C., needs to be trimmed, and the ability to pick and examine instances needs to be returned to the sphere,” she added. “The bureau additionally wants a shift in its tradition to focus solely on finest serving the American individuals and defending them in any respect price. No exterior superfluous distractions needs to be tolerated.”
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3. Accountability and penalties
“Inappropriate actions” and insufficient job efficiency needs to be met with “tangible penalties,” Parker stated.
Regardless of allegations of weaponized investigations, she stated the bureau continues to be staffed with devoted brokers “who’re holding the road” and deserve assist.
“Those that select to not uphold their Constitutional oaths needs to be held accountable,” she added.
Former FBI Particular Agent and Fox Information contributor Nicole Parker says the following FBI director can be tasked with bettering the bureau’s public picture. (Fox Information Digital)
In a 2022 op-ed for Fox Information Digital, Patel known as for a committee to take the FBI and Justice Division to activity for alleged abuses of energy towards conservatives.
“The politicization of the FBI right into a partisan software to punish the Democrats’ enemies and defend their associates is a risk that imperils our republic and calls for Congress’ speedy consideration,” he wrote on the time. “They’ve created a two-tiered system of justice; we should undo it.”
4. Increase hiring requirements
As a part of the mission to construct up the FBI’s public picture, Parker stated hiring and promotions needs to be jacked as much as “the very best in FBI historical past.”
Patel, in his guide, known as for elevated congressional oversight and the firing of “corrupt actors” within the FBI.
“The very fact is, we’d like a federal company that investigates federal crimes, and that company will at all times be prone to having its powers abused,” he wrote.
President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, arrives at Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s workplace for a gathering within the Russell Senate Workplace Constructing on Dec. 9, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photos)
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5. Lower wasteful spending
The FBI’s price range request in fiscal 2025 sought greater than $11.3 billion.
The bureau has greater than 37,000 workers, about 13,600 of whom are brokers.
Parker had yet another advice that would take a while for a brand new director to perform: visiting the FBI discipline workplaces across the nation.
Patel, in his guide, took {that a} step ahead and argued that FBI management ought to transfer exterior the Beltway.
“Preserving the FBI in its behemoth Washington HQ constructing solely permits for institutional seize and incentivizes senior management within the FBI to lose deal with their mission and learn to play political video games as an alternative, currying favor with politicians and cultivating relationships with the press to advance their profession,” he wrote.
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“Perceive rank-and-file’s distinctive wants and issues higher,” Parker stated. “Be certain that energy now concentrated at FBI headquarters isn’t any extra absolutely vested within the discipline, time the bloated forms at HQ and ship brokers and workers again to the sphere to work investigations.”
Like his direct predecessors, Patel has a authorized background however just isn’t a former agent. Nevertheless, he was the chief investigator in a congressional probe into allegations of FISA abuse on the FBI through the 2016 Russian interference investigation.
Trump described his nominee as a proficient investigator and reformer when he introduced Patel’s nomination inside weeks of successful election to a second time period. Whereas critics have challenged Patel’s expertise and closeness to the president, supporters view him as a reformer who will enhance the bureau.
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Kash Patel speaks at a marketing campaign occasion for Republican candidates on July 31, 2022, in Tucson, Ariz. (Brandon Bell/Getty Photos)
“Kash is a superb lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his profession exposing corruption, defending Justice, and defending the American Individuals,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Fact Social, asserting the nomination on Nov. 30. He famous that Patel had tried greater than 60 instances as an legal professional and highlighted different elements of his resume.
Patel was a federal prosecutor who dealt with overseas terror instances with the Division of Justice and started his profession as a public protection lawyer. And he served in a lot of Protection Division and White Home roles through the first Trump administration, together with as senior director for counterterrorism on the Nationwide Safety Council and as chief of workers to former Performing Secretary of Protection Christopher Miller.
“This FBI will finish the rising crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant felony gangs, and cease the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking throughout the Border,” Trump continued. “Kash will work beneath our nice Legal professional Common, Pam Bondi, to deliver again Constancy, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.”
President Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, left, meets with Texas Sen. John Cornyn in his workplace within the Hart Senate Workplace Constructing on Dec. 9, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Photos)
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, wrote on X that Patel’s background positioned him in key nationwide safety positions in all three branches of presidency. He’d additionally been a congressional watchdog.
Sen. Dick Durbin, nonetheless, an influential Illinois Democrat and the rating member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, known as Patel “the incorrect selection.”
“Kash Patel has neither the expertise, the temperament, nor the judgment to steer the FBI,” Durbin claimed.
Patel’s Senate affirmation listening to is scheduled for Thursday.
“The FBI just isn’t broken past restore,” Parker instructed Fox Information Digital.
Fox Information’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
