The FBI could soon be led by someone who couldn’t make it through the background investigation required of all FBI employees. Kashyap “Kash” Patel will face the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as he seeks to lead the nation’s most powerful law enforcement and domestic security agency. In 25 years at the FBI, I led numerous high-level background inquiries, and, later, as an assistant director, I briefed the White House on serious issues arising from nominee investigations. In a field ripe with questionable candidates, Patel is one of the most ill-suited Cabinet nominees — not just now, but of all time.
Patel is one of the most ill-suited Cabinet nominees — not just now, but of all time.
Patel has only threadbare work experience, highlighted by his term as a senior adviser to the president on the National Security Council, compared with some previous directors who served as federal judges, U.S. attorneys and senior Justice Department executives. But his lack of experience, though worrisome, isn’t my biggest concern.
Follow MSNBC's live blog coverage of Kash Patel's and Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearings.
Rather, it’s Patel’s own words and conduct that are disqualifying. If candidates for any other FBI jobs had said the things he’s said or done the things he’s done, then their employment searched would end with screeching halts.
More than just verify education, work history, finances and personal references, FBI background investigations go deep into character, reputation, loyalty to the United States, bias of any kind and, importantly, honesty and trustworthiness. But as reported by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, former colleagues of Patel claim that he just “makes stuff up.”
He reportedly just made up a foreign government’s approval for our planes to fly into its airspace. Many Americans have been misled by Donald Trump to believe that the FBI can’t be trusted. While that’s not true, picking a man with trustworthiness issues to lead the agency won’t help fix the perception. As reported by The Atlantic and described in the book “Only I Can Fix It” by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, in 2020, SEAL Team 6 was in the air waiting for a green light to carry out a daring rescue operation in Nigeria that was contingent upon the State Department’s obtaining that country’s permission to enter its airspace.
Patel, who was assigned to the National Security Council, reportedly falsely announced that permission had been granted, and the SEAL team was rerouted when Defense Secretary Mark Esper learned otherwise at the last minute. Eventually, the American was rescued, but when confronted about his misstatement, Patel reportedly replied, “If nobody got hurt, who the f--- cares?”
That’s not a good mantra for an FBI director.
We can’t trust the FBI if we can’t trust its director.
Patel denies that he said that, and he denies making up the claim that Nigeria had given the United States permission to enter its airspace. His spokesperson told The Atlantic that Patel “would never jeopardize an operation, American hostages, or our soldiers. ... In every situation, including this one, I followed the chain of command.”
This is where Patel should face withering questioning by any senator who cares about genuinely ensuring that all Americans will cooperate with the FBI because they trust the institution. We can’t trust the FBI if we can’t trust its director.
A new claim from an FBI whistleblower alleges that Patel, in violation of policy that dictates that there be no public discussion of a hostage release until the hostages are safely within U.S. airspace, leaked news to The Wall Street Journal about a pending hostage negotiation involving two Americans held by Iranian backed forces in Yemen. The premature disclosure could have jeopardized the ultimately successful hostage release, and even their lives. That Oct. 14, 2020, Wall Street Journal report identifies a source of its story as “Kash Patel, a deputy assistant to President Trump who worked on the deal.”
Patel shared a post on X featuring various Republicans defending his hostage recovery efforts. Among those Republicans is a former Trump White House official who called the leaking allegations “simply absurd.”
On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking minority member, Dick Durbin, D-Ill., issued a letter to several pertinent agencies demanding all information about that alleged leak.
Patel insisted on being granted criminal immunity before he would speak to investigators and testify before a federal grand jury as the FBI and the Justice Department were investigating the classified documents secreted at Mar-a-Lago. Patel publicly claimed he was present when Trump, prior to leaving the White House in 2021, announced, “We are declassifying this information.”
An FBI director who demanded criminal immunity before speaking to FBI agents is going to have a tough time running the place.
Patel told Breitbart News that “Trump declassified whole sets of materials in anticipation of leaving government that he thought the American public should have the right to read themselves.” He also claimed to Breitbart that the “White House counsel failed to generate the paperwork to change the classification markings, but that doesn’t mean the information wasn’t declassified.”
There has never been any evidence that this declassification ever happened.
Did Patel make up the declassification story to please Trump? If his assertions were true, then what did he have to fear in testifying to that fact before a grand jury? I’d say that an FBI director who demanded criminal immunity before speaking to FBI agents, prosecutors and grand jurors is going to have a tough time running the place.
The FBI’s motto is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.” The record suggests that Patel doesn’t possess any of those traits.
