Photo: Rebecca Noble Getty Images North America via Agence France-Presse Kash Patel, the son of Indian migrants and author of a book on the “deep state,” held several senior positions during Donald Trump's first term.
Agence France-Presse in Washington
Published at 21:13 Updated at 21:56
- United States
Donald Trump announced Saturday that he wanted to replace the current director of the American federal police, the FBI, with Kash Patel, a loyalist of the president-elect known for his denunciation of the supposed “deep state”.
“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and fighter for 'America First', who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice and protecting the American people”, explained Donald Trump on his Truth Social network.
The announcement implies that the current head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, appointed in 2017, will be fired or resign before the end of his ten-year term.
Under his leadership, the FBI investigated the former and future president of the United States.
Kash Patel, the son of Indian migrants and author of a book on the “deep state,” held several senior positions during Donald Trump’s first term (2017-2021), including as national security adviser and chief of staff at the Pentagon.
“Kash did an incredible job during my first term,” Trump said, adding that Patel would be tasked with “ending America’s growing crime epidemic, dismantling criminal gangs, and ending the evil scourge of human trafficking and drug trafficking across the border.”
Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, has also named Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, to lead the federal drug enforcement agency, in part to “stop the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs across our southern border.”
Fentanyl has caused more than 70,000 overdose deaths in 2023, according to US authorities.