Patel, who still must be confirmed by the Senate, has promoted the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and that a secret “deep state” cabal tried to overthrow Trump.
United States President-elect, Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would pick Kashyap "Kash" Patel, a 44-year-old loyalist with little significant experience in federal law enforcement, to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and “America First” fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People," Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social.
"He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution."
Patel, who still must be confirmed by the Senate, has promoted the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and that a secret “deep state” cabal tried to overthrow Trump.
Patel, who will have to earn Senate confirmation to become FBI director, has earned a reputation as the ultimate Trump loyalist who has spread baseless "deep state" conspiracy theories and called for a purge of perceived Trump enemies from the FBI.
“It is the honour of a lifetime to be nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of the FBI," Patel said in a statement.
"Together, we will restore integrity, accountability, and equal justice to our justice system and return the FBI to its rightful mission: protecting the American people.”
Patel's nomination is likely to again put pressure on Senate Republicans who rejected Trump's nomination of Matt Gaetz, a firebrand Trump loyalist who was criminally investigated for sex trafficking, to serve as Attorney General earlier this month.
A former senior law enforcement official who interacted with Patel in the past said he was not qualified for the position.
"It’s ridiculous. He’s arguably the least qualified person ever nominated for a senior position in federal law enforcement," said the former official, who asked not to be named citing fears of retaliation from Trump.
"I don’t know anything significant that he achieved at the DOJ. He was not well regarded as a prosecutor."
During the closing months of Trump’s first term, Trump also proposed that Patel run the FBI. William Barr, the attorney general at the time, vehemently objected and Trump dropped his plans.
“Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency,” Barr later wrote in his memoir.
Patel has promoted the falsehood that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump as well as the baseless conspiracy theory that federal bureaucrats in the “deep state” tried to overthrow the former president.
Patel has called for replacing “anti-democratic” civil servants in law enforcement and intelligence with “patriots” who he says will work for the American people. In his memoir, "Government Gangsters," he described the current political moment as “a battle between the people and a corrupt ruling class."
“The Deep State is an unelected cabal of tyrants who think they should determine who Americans can and cannot elect as president," Patel wrote. "Who think they get to decide what the president can and cannot do, and who believe they have the right to choose what the American people can and cannot know.”