Kash Patel | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2025 | |
9th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation | |
Assumed office February 21, 2025 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Deputy | Dan Bongino |
Preceded by | Christopher A. Wray |
Acting Director of theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives | |
Assumed office February 24, 2025 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Marvin G. Richardson |
Chief of Staff to theUnited States Secretary of Defense | |
In office November 29, 2020 – January 20, 2021 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Secretary of Defense | Christopher C. Miller |
Preceded by | Jennifer M. Stewart |
Succeeded by | Kelly Magsamen |
Senior Director of the Counterterrorism Directorate of theNational Security Council | |
In office May 13, 2020 – November 29, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
In office July 31, 2019 – February 20, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence | |
In office February 20, 2020 – May 13, 2020 | |
President | Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Andrew P. Hallman |
Succeeded by | Neil Wiley |
Personal details | |
Born | Kashyap Pramod Patel (1980-02-25)February 25, 1980 (age 45) Garden City, New York, U.S. |
Political party | Republican |
Education | |
Kashyap Pramod "Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer and former federal prosecutor who has served since 2025 as thedirector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the acting director of theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Patel studied criminal justice and history at theUniversity of Richmond and graduated from thePace University School of Law. In 2005, he began working as a public defender inMiami-Dade County, Florida, and later as a federal public defender for theSouthern District of Florida. Patel began working as a junior staff member at theDepartment of Justice in 2012, becoming a prosecutor in theNational Security Division in 2013 and working in the Counterterrorism Division in 2014. In 2017, he became a senior aide toDevin Nunes, the chairman of theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he was the primary author of theNunes memo, alleging thatFederal Bureau of Investigation officials abused their authority inthe FBI investigation intolinks between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials.
In February 2019, Patel joined theNational Security Council's International Organizations and Alliances directorate. In 2020, he was named as an aide toRichard Grenell, the actingdirector of national intelligence, becoming theprincipal deputy director of national intelligence until May, when he returned to the National Security Council. In November, after PresidentDonald Trump dismissedMark Esper assecretary of defense, Patel was named as the chief of staff to acting secretary of defenseChristopher C. Miller. That year, Trump was involved in a plan to oust FBI directorChristopher A. Wray and a separate effort to oustCentral Intelligence Agency directorGina Haspel and name Patel deputy director of both agencies.
After Trump left office in January 2021, Patel leveraged his association with Trump to promote several business ventures and made recurring appearances on several podcasts. In April 2022, he was named to the board ofTrump Media & Technology Group. Also that year, he published a children's book about theSteele dossier and, withJohn Solomon, was appointed to represent Trump before theNational Archives and Records Administration; the FBIquestioned Patel about his involvement in Trump's records. He founded The Kash Foundation, a charity to help participants in theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack pay legal costs. Patel has promoted several conspiracy theories about thedeep state,false claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election,QAnon,COVID-19 vaccines, and theJanuary 6 Capitol attack.
In November 2024, Trump announced that he would dismiss Wray as FBI director and nominate Patel as his replacement. He appeared before theSenate Committee on the Judiciary in January 2025. SenatorDick Durbin, the committee's ranking member, accused Patel of perjury by testifying that he had not been aware of plans to remove FBI agents, and conflict of interest questions were raised during his committee hearing. He was confirmed by theSenate in February; shortly thereafter, he was named as the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He is the first person of color to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Kashyap Pramod Patel[1] was born on February 25, 1980,[2] inGarden City, New York.[3] He is the son of Pramod Patel, aUgandan of Indian descent who wasexpelled by Ugandan dictatorIdi Amin in 1972.[2] The Patels, a member of thePatidar community inGujarat, were members of theBhadran village in theAnand district. Chh Gam Patidar Mandal, an organization in Bhadran, has maintained avanshavali, or family tree, of Patel's family for 18 generations. They returned toIndia after being expelled, then moved toCanada.[4] Pramod was a chief financial officer for a global distributor of aircraft bearings.[5] Patel's household included Pramod's eight brothers and sisters.[6] He was raisedHindu.[5] In his youth, Patel playedice hockey,[2] later coaching a youth hockey league.[7]
Patel attendedGarden City High School; his senior year quote, "Racism is man’s gravest threat—the maximum of hatred for a minimum reason", was originally said by Jewish theologianAbraham Joshua Heschel.[5] During summers, Patel worked as acaddie at the Garden City Country Club.[6] He graduated from theUniversity of Richmond in 2002 with a degree in criminal justice and history; according to his memoir,Government Gangsters (2023), though he was interested in medical school programs,[8] Patel was inspired by defense lawyers who golfed at the Garden City Country Club.[6] He earned a certificate in international law from theUniversity College London[9] and graduated from thePace University School of Law in 2005.[6] In 2003, as a student at Pace, Patel joined theAmerican Bar Association's Judicial Intern Opportunity Program, a diversity internship, according to a questionnaire he sent to theSenate Committee on the Judiciary.[7]
After Patel graduated, his parents purchased a condominium unit inCoral Gables, Florida, for him.[5] He worked as a public defender inMiami-Dade County, Florida, representing violent criminals and drug traffickers,[2] and later as a federal public defender for theSouthern District of Florida.[6] In 2012, Patel began working as a junior staff member at theDepartment of Justice routing arrest warrants.[6] He later erroneously said he was the lead prosecutor against the perpetrators of the2012 Benghazi attack; Patel temporarily served as a representative for the Criminal Division on the case, but was allegedly removed over disagreements he had with theU.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which was leading the case.[5] In his memoir,Government Gangsters, he wrote that he had been asked to join the trial team againstAhmed Abu Khattala, a militia leader in theLibyan civil war. According toThe New York Times, he was not offered a position.[10] Patel served as a board member of the South Asian Bar Association of North America.[7]
By 2013, Patel had been assigned to theNational Security Division as a prosecutor.[6] He concurrently served as a legal liaison for theJoint Special Operations Command.[11] In January 2014, Patel took a junior position in the Counterterrorism Division.[10] That month, he participated in a charity auction forSwitchboard of Miami.[6] At a trial for Omar Faraj Saeed al-Hardan, a Palestinian accused of providing material support to theIslamic State, JudgeLynn Hughes repeatedly berated Patel for his unprofessional attire and had him removed from the court chambers. Patel had flown fromTajikistan to the courtroom inTexas, though he was not required to be present.[12] He left the Department of Justice in 2017, later saying that the impetus was the department's response to the2016 presidential election.[2]
In April 2017, Patel began working for theHouse Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, then led by RepresentativeDevin Nunes.[5] As an aide to Nunes, Patel investigated the theory that Ukrainians were promulgating information aboutRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections.[13]The New York Times later reported that he was the primary author of theNunes memo,[9] which alleged thatFederal Bureau of Investigation officials abused their authority inthe FBI investigation intolinks between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials, seeking a warrant forCarter Page, an advisor toDonald Trump, and relying on claims made byChristopher Steele, a British intelligence officer who was allegedly paid by theDemocratic National Committee andHillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.[14] The memo's veracity was highly questioned, but it bolstered Patel's standing among Trump allies.[13] In April 2018,Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the investigation, asked whether Patel had traveled toLondon the previous year to interview Steele; according to theTimes, he did not provide a definitive answer.[15] After the commencement of the116th United States Congress, he served as senior counsel for theHouse Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.[11]
In February 2019, Patel joined theNational Security Council,[13] purportedly onSean Hannity's recommendation.[16] According to colleagues who spoke toThe New York Times, Patel "took few notes in meetings" and was inexperienced for the position.[13] He was considered a "must-hire, directed by the president" for the council;John Bolton, Trump's national security advisor, and his deputy,Charles Kupperman, named him to the International Organizations and Alliances, a directorate that advances the United States' positions at theUnited Nations.[17] In April, amid an effort byRudy Giuliani to discredit evidence against Trump's former campaign chairman,Paul Manafort,[a] Patel shifted his work toUkraine. According to theTimes, Trump personally discussed documents involving Ukraine with Patel, though their communications were separate from those by Giuliani and the ambassador to theEuropean Union,Gordon Sondland.[13] Phone records detailed in the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence's report on the impeachment inquiry in December revealed a 25-minute call between Giuliani and Patel in May.[19] In an interview withCBS News, Patel said that the call was personal.[20]
In July, Patel was appointed as senior director of the counterterrorism directorate of the National Security Council. Congressional testimony byFiona Hill, a senior director forEurope and Ukraine at the National Security Council, purportedly revealed that Patel had directly provided negative information about Ukraine to Trump.[21] Hill warned her staff to be "very careful" about communicating with him.[22] Further testimony fromAlexander Vindman, the director of European affairs, corroborated Hill's statements; Trump's advisors instructed Vindman not to debrief Trump following PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy's inauguration after Patel misrepresented himself as an expert on Ukraine, believing that it would confuse Trump.[23] Patel toldAxios'sJonathan Swan that he had not discussed Ukraine with Trump.[24] In February 2020,Politico reported that Patel had become a senior advisor toRichard Grenell, the actingdirector of national intelligence.[25] AfterAndrew P. Hallman's resignation, Patel became the principal deputy director of national intelligence.[26] He was given a mandate to "clean house"[27] and promptly reduced the staffing of theOffice of the Director of National Intelligence.[28] Patel was involved in reviewing the office's staff.[29] He returned as senior director of the counterterrorism directorate of theNational Security Council afterJohn Ratcliffe was confirmed asdirector of National Intelligence in May.[30]
In August 2020, Patel andRoger D. Carstens, the special envoy for hostage affairs, traveled toDamascus to meet withAli Mamlouk, the director ofSyria'sNational Security Bureau,[31] and in October,Bloomberg News reported that he had met with an unnamed Syrian official to discuss releasingAustin Tice, an American journalist who was captured in 2012, andMajd Kamalmaz, a Syrian-American therapist who disappeared in 2017;[32] in May 2024, U.S. national security officials told Kamalmaz's family that they had obtained intelligence indicating he had died in captivity.[33] Patel was involved in the2020 Nigeria hostage rescue, falsely informing the Department of Defense that secretary of stateMike Pompeo had gotten approval to enterNigeria's airspace. The plane was close to landing whenMark Esper, the secretary of defense, learned that the department had not gotten authorization, though SEAL Team Six was later given permission to land. The incident risked the death of the hostage, Philip Walton, or the deaths of severalNavy SEALs.[5]
In November 2020, Trump dismissed Esper, namingChristopher C. Miller as acting defense secretary. Patel was appointed Miller's chief of staff;[34] he previously worked for Miller at theNational Security Council and was well-regarded by him, according toThe Washington Post.[35] A senior national security official who spoke toVanity Fair'sAdam Ciralsky described Miller as a "frontman", while Patel andEzra Cohen, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, were "calling all the shots".[36] Patel oversaw theDepartment of Defense's transition efforts during thepresidential transition of Joe Biden; according toThe New York Times, transition officials expressed distrust of Patel, viewing him as a Trump loyalist.[37] He faced allegations that he was intentionally blocking the transition. The Department of Defense denied those reports, saying that he had delegated his responsibility to another transition official.[38] Patel supported an internal proposal to separate theNational Security Agency fromUnited States Cyber Command.[39] Documents provided to theHouse Select Committee on the January 6 Attack and accounts of officials allege that Patel discussed security at theCapitol before and during theJanuary 6 Capitol attack, and that he repeatedly contactedMark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, on the day of the attack.[40] He was in Miller's office during the attack.[41]
In April, Trump devised a plan to oust FBI directorChristopher A. Wray and appointWilliam Evanina to lead the bureau, while Patel would become deputy director. Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr halted the plan, threatening to resign.[42] In January 2021,Axios reported that Trump sought to appoint Patel as the deputy director of theCentral Intelligence Agency in December 2020. In response, CIA directorGina Haspel threatened to resign.[43] At the annualArmy–Navy Game that month,Mark Milley, thechairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confrontedWhite House chief of staffMark Meadows, repeatedly and loudly asking whether Patel was going to replace Wray or Haspel.[44] In the final days of Trump's presidency,Mike Lindell, the founder and chief executive ofMy Pillow, went to theWhite House; Jabin Botsford, a photographer forThe Washington Post, captured a document Lindell was holding that read, "Move Kash Patel to CIA Acting".[45] In April 2022, Patel told an audience that he had advised Trump to fire seniorDepartment of Justice officials.[46]
In September 2021, Patel was subpoenaed by theHouse Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[40] In addition, the committee requested that Patel submit to questioning.[47] Although a lawyer for Trump instructed Patel to defy the subpoena,[47] he communicated with the committee.[48] In its efforts to examine Trump's efforts to invoke theInsurrection Act and declaremartial law to overturn the2020 election, the committee requested Patel's communicatons relating to "the establishment of martial law, requests to establish martial law, or legal analysis of martial law" and "all documents and communications relating to" the Insurrection Act.[49] American Oversight, a watchdog group, sought Patel's texts in August.[50]
In June 2022, Trump requested that theNational Archives and Records Administration grant Patel and journalistJohn Solomon access to administration records;[51] their designations were revoked in October 2023.[52] After theFBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Patel claimed that Trump had declassified the seized documents;[53] his argument was the focus of investigators.[54] As part of theFBI investigation into Trump's handling of government documents, federal prosecutors sought to have Patel testify before agrand jury. He appeared twice before a grand jury in October 2022, repeatedly pleading theFifth Amendment in his first appearance.[55] Prosecutors offered him immunity in November,[56] securing his testimony.[57] According toThe Washington Post, prosecutors asked about his claim that Trump had declassified the documents, as well as Trump's motivation for taking the documents.[58] Patel was represented byStanley Woodward, who has frequently worked for associates of Trump.[59]
After Trump left office in 2021, Patel managed Trishul, a consulting company.[60] He founded The Kash Foundation, a nonprofit that helps participants in theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack pay legal costs and sells merchandise branded as K$H.[61] According to aTrump Media & Technology Group filing, Patel worked for Trump as a paid national security advisor.[62] Patel was listed as the director of Trump Media & Technology Group in April 2022.[63] As director, he described promotingQAnon-adjacent accounts onTruth Social, Trump Media's social media service, as an intentional business decision to "capture audiences".[64] In June 2022, Patel was paid $130,000 to investigate claims that the company's co-founders,Andy Dean and Wes Moss, had "fostered an unpredictable and toxic corporate culture". His report was later included in a legal dispute over Dean's and Moss's shares in the company.[62] Patel was also named toRussell Vought's Center for Renewing America.[46] For nine months in 2024, Patel was a consultant for Elite Depot, a company based in theCayman Islands that operatesShein, an e-commerce platform.[65]
In March 2023, a report compiled byDemocrats on theHouse Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government detailed the testimony of two former FBI special agents, who said they had received financial support from Patel for promoting misinformation about theJanuary 6 Capitol attack, finding one agent a position with the Center for Renewing America and promoting his book.[66] Patel covered legal fees and paid witnesses who testified before the subcommittee, according toThe New York Times.[67] He co-produced "Justice for All", acharity record by Trump and a choir of men incarcerated in connection with the attack that was released that month.[68] Patel was a political consultant forSave America and Friends of Matt Gaetz.[69]
NPR described Patel as a "fixture on right-wing talk shows and podcasts", includingStew Peters's podcast.[70] From 2021 to 2023,[69] Patel was the host ofKash's Corner, a show on EpochTV, a streaming service operated by theFalun Gong-affiliated newspaperThe Epoch Times.[71] He interviewed Trump onKash's Corner in February 2022.[72] AfterSteve Bannon, a former Trump advisor, surrendered to a federal prison in July 2024 for defying a subpoena from the Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, Patel served as a part-time guest host for Bannon's podcastWar Room.[73] In 2024,Igor Lopatonok, a Russian filmmaker associated with theRussian government, paid Patel $25,000 to appear on a six-part series,All the President's Men: The Conspiracy Against Trump, on theTucker Carlson Network.[74]
AfterThe New York Times published an article in October 2019 aboutFiona Hill's testimony in theimpeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, Patel filed a $44 million[75] defamation suit against the paper.[19] The next month, he suedPolitico for $25 million[75] for defamation.[76] Patel's lawyers moved to dismiss both lawsuits in 2021; according to theTimes, Patel did not pursue his case against the paper, whilePolitico's lawyers argued that the judge was prepared to dismiss the case.[75] In December 2020, Patel suedCNN over defamation for $50 million. The case was later dismissed and appealed to theCourt of Appeals of Virginia. In June 2023, he sued Jim Stewartson, an online commentator. In May, he sued theDepartment of Defense over a review of his memoir,Government Gangsters (2023). In September, Patel sued FBI directorChristopher A. Wray and otherDepartment of Justice officials, arguing that a 2017 grand jury subpoena for his communication records was retaliation for his work criticizingthe FBI investigation intolinks between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials.[75]
In November 2024,Axios reported that President-electDonald Trump intended to appoint Patel to a high-profile position in theFederal Bureau of Investigation or theDepartment of Justice.[77]The Wall Street Journal later reported that Trump intended to removeChristopher A. Wray as thedirector of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, interviewing several candidates for the position, including Patel and formerMichigan representativeMike Rogers.[78] Patel was considered as a potential nominee fordirector of the Central Intelligence Agency, though he faced a narrower path in theSenate.[79] According toThe New York Times,Susie Wiles, Trump's campaign manager, believed Patel would be a risky choice to lead the bureau, butAndrew Bailey, theMissouri attorney general, appeared too lackadaisical in meetings.[80] On November 30, Trump announced that he would dismiss Wray and named Patel as his nominee for the position.[81] Wray agreed to resign in December.[82] Before his confirmation hearing, Patel began conducting policy-focused interviews.[83] According toCNN, he was targeted in an Iranian hacking operation that month.[84] In January 2025, nearly two dozenRepublican government officials sent a letter to senators urging them to reject Patel's nomination.[85]
Patel appeared before theSenate Committee on the Judiciary on January 30. He positioned himself as insulated from Trump, disagreeing with Trump's decision topardon January 6 Capitol attack defendants.[86] SenatorPeter Welch repeatedly asked Patel whetherJoe Biden won the2020 presidential election; Patel said that the election was "certified" but did not explicitly say that Biden won.[87] The Judiciary Committee voted to advance his nomination 12–10 along party lines on February 13.[88] In February,Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, sent the Department of Justice's inspector general a letter accusing Patel of directing dismissals at the bureau based on "highly credible information from multiple sources". The allegations, if true, would implicateEmil Bove, the actingdeputy attorney general, as having conducted firings "solely at the behest of a private citizen" and would amount to potential perjury.[89] Patel was also criticized for his shares inShein's parent company,[65] a stock award he received fromTrump Media & Technology Group,[90] and his work forQatar through Trishul.[60]
On February 20, Patel was confirmed by theSenate in a 51–49 vote. EveryRepublican senator exceptSusan Collins andLisa Murkowski voted to confirm him and everyDemocratic senator opposed his nomination.[91] According toThe New York Times, several colleagues of SenatorMitch McConnell expected him to oppose Patel's nomination, which would have required Vice PresidentJD Vance to cast atie-breaking vote.[92] Patel was sworn in the next day by Attorney GeneralPam Bondi. He took the oath on theBhagavad Gita, theHindu scripture,[93] held by his presumed partner, Alexis Wilkins.[94] Patel is the first person of color to serve as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[7]
After being sworn in, Patel told officials that he intended to send 1,000 agents fromWashington, D.C. to other field offices in cities with higher crime rates[93] and reassign 500 staff members toRedstone Arsenal inHuntsville, Alabama.[95] According toThe Wall Street Journal, an official told Patel that the restructuring could cost $100 million that the agency did not have; he was undeterred.[93] Patel removed civil service executives and replaced them with political allies, according to theJournal.[93] That month,NBC News reported that Patel would be named as the acting director of theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;[96] he was sworn in on February 24.[97]The New York Times obtained an internal email from Patel in March, directing the majority of the bureau's field offices—with the exception of those inNew York, Washington, D.C., andLos Angeles—to report to branch directors rather than thedeputy director.[98] In February call with FBI officials, Patel proposed altering the bureau's physical fitness test and partnering withUltimate Fighting Championship, while saying he would shift his operations toNevada, where he lives, and theWest Coast.[99] He expressed interest in joining the bureau's hockey team;[99] Patel skates with the Dons, a club team inWashington, D.C.[2] In March, Trump said in a speech that Patel had plans to move the FBI headquarters to an "oldDepartment of Commerce building", suggesting further reductions in staff.[100]
Patel has been widely described as a loyalist of presidentDonald Trump.[b]
We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media. Yes, we're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections — we're going to come after you.
Patel has conformed to Trump's view that theFederal Bureau of Investigation has become politicized. He has argued that the bureau should be distanced from Washington, D.C., citingJames Comey's handling of the FBI investigation into theHillary Clinton email controversy.[80] In February 2022, he toldFox News that lawyers forHillary Clinton had worked to "infiltrate"Trump Tower andWhite House servers; Patel's claim was used in a Fox News headline that was falsely attributed to a filing in theDurham special counsel investigation.[72] In December 2023, Patel toldSteve Bannon onWar Room that he would "come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helpedJoe Biden rig presidential elections"—echoingfalse claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.[107] His memoir,Government Gangsters (2023), calls for weakening civil service job protections;[108] Trump praised the book as a "roadmap to end the Deep State's reign".[109] In September 2024, he vowed to close theJ. Edgar Hoover Building, the headquarters of the FBI, "reopen it the next day as a museum of the 'deep state'," and "take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals."[108]
Patel has promoted conspiracy theories and has been called a conspiracy theorist.[c] He has promoted conspiracy theories about thedeep state and theJanuary 6 Capitol attack, claiming thatRay Epps, a member of theOath Keepers, was a secret FBI agent.[70] He played a key role in reframing the attack, according toUSA Today.[114] OnTruth Social, Patel has recommended pills that claim to detoxify thecoronavirus spike protein provided byCOVID-19 vaccines.[115] OnKash's Corner (2021–2023), he advocated for reforming the FBI owing to its alleged "illegitimacy", citing theHunter Biden laptop controversy, and engaged in theRussia investigation origins counter-narrative.[69]
Patel has been involved in theQAnon community. In 2018, a post by Q, an anonymous person or persons at the center of the conspiracy theory, read, "Kashyap Patel - name to remember". He has signed copies ofThe Plot Against the King (2022) with "#WWG1WGA", a QAnon message, and created the #FlannelFridays trend.[116] In 2022, Patel said he specifically agreed with QAnon rhetoric surrounding theorigin of SARS-CoV-2, the January 6 Capitol attack, and thefirst andsecond impeachments ofDonald Trump.[117] He has appeared at theReAwaken America Tour, a far-right event that promotes QAnon.[118] Patel promotedItalygate, a conspiracy theory that alleges that an Italian defense contractor conspired with theCentral Intelligence Agency to alter the results of the2020 presidential election in favor ofJoe Biden.Christopher C. Miller, the acting secretary of defense, was made aware of Patel's belief, and requested that the Italian government investigate the claim.[119]
Patel has written three children's books, beginning withThe Plot Against the King, a storybook about theSteele dossier, which was published by Brave Books in 2022.[120] He later wroteThe Plot Against the King: 2000 Mules (2022),[116] and releasedThe Plot Against the King 3: The Return of the King after the2024 presidential election.[121] In 2023,[122] Patel wroteGovernment Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy, a memoir that falsely describes the origins of theFBI investigation into Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and the authorization to wiretapCarter Page, a former Trump advisor.[123] An appendix toGovernment Gangsters includes a list of 60 names labeled "Members of the Executive Branch Deep State".[124] The list has been widely interpreted as anenemies list,[d] though Patel rejected that term in his Senate confirmation hearing.[131] The memoir was later adapted into a documentary produced by former Trump advisorSteve Bannon.[6]
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Preceded by | Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 2025–present | Incumbent |