Donald Trump nominates Indian American Kash Patel as FBI Director

Kash Patel. Pic/AFP

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday nominated close confidante Kash Patel for the powerful position of Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, making him the highest ranking Indian American in his incoming administration, reported news agency PTI.

"I am proud to announce that Kashyap 'Kash' Patel will serve as the next 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 announced on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.

Trump said Patel played a pivotal role in uncovering "the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax," standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution. Patel, 44, served as chief of staff to the Acting United States Secretary of Defense in the last few weeks of the Trump Administration in 2017.

"Kash did an incredible job during my First Term, where he served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials," he said, reported PTI.

"This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border. Kash will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI," Trump said, reported PTI.

New York-born Patel has his roots in Gujarat. However, his parents are from East Africa, mother from Tanzania and father from Uganda. They came to the US from Canada in 1970. "We are Gujarati," he had told PTI in an earlier interview.

The family moved to Queens in New York, often called as Little India -- in the late 70s. It is here that Patel was born and grew. Patel's parents are retired now and spend their time in both the US and Gujarat. After his schooling in New York and college in Richmond, Virginia, and law school in New York, Patel went to Florida where he was a state public defender for four years and then federal public defender for another four years.

"So, lots of trials, lots of international investigations, lots of time in court, understanding the federal system and trying cases and learning how to run investigations," he said.

From Florida he moved to Washington DC as a terrorism prosecutor at the Department of Justice. Here he was an international terrorism prosecutor for about three and a half years. During this period, he worked on cases all over the world, in America in East Africa as well as in Uganda and Kenya.

While, still employed by the Department of Justice, he went as a civilian to join Special Operations Command at the Department of Defense. At the Pentagon, he sat as the Department of Justice's lawyer with Special Forces people and worked interagency collaborative targeting operations around the world.

After a year in the position, Congressman Davin Nunes, Chairman of the House Permanent Select on Intelligence Committee, pulled him as senior counsel on counterterrorism. After April 2017, he spearheaded the Russia investigation of the House Intelligence Committee. It was here where he attracted media attention and played a key role in drafting a GOP memo, which, according to then-President Donald trump, exposed the role of Democratic party and its leadership in the Russian investigation.

The New York Times described this as a "Kash Memo." Patel said that this was a "great team effort."

Patel is an Ice hockey fan and has been playing the sport since he was six. "I still play and I spend a lot of time volunteering coaching youth hockey in the area."

Patel, who attended both the Houston and Ahmedabad rallies of Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2019 and February 2020, had earlier told PTI that the bilateral relationship had deteriorated under the Biden Administration.

"President Trump and Prime Minister Modi had an extraordinary relationship with respect. And they were working together to counteract the things like Chinese aggression, not just on the Indian border but on the global stage. They were also working together to counteract things in Pakistan when it came to counterterrorism matters and hostage situations," Patel said, reported PTI.

The two leaders knew that not only the strong relationship but also allowing the economies of scale to be built in India and America were mutually beneficial, Patel said. Last fall he wrote the book 'Government Gangster' which argued that there is a severe lack of accountability. The book talks about the deep state and is highly critical of the US bureaucracy, which he claims is highly infiltrated or dominated by lawbreakers.

Responding to a question, Patel then told PTI that the Biden Administration and the deep state are interwoven.

"The Biden administration is filled by these corrupt government gangsters who I list in the back of my book by name and title. It's not a Democrat or Republican thing. It's an apolitical thing that these individuals, whether they're Trump appointees like Christopher W Ray or Biden appointees like Merrick Garland, they are led to this two tier system of justice where they weaponise government and intelligence and law enforcement to target either conservatives or Trump supporters or call people on January 6th, domestic terrorists," he said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)