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Joyce Vance: Kash Patel, confirmed with a published list of enemies he wants revenge against
Joyce Vance - Kash Patel, Confirmed
Joyce Vance
Feb 20, 2025
The Senate bent the knee again, confirming Kash Patel for a 10-year term as director of the FBI. The 51-49 vote was mostly along party lines, with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining the Democrats this afternoon.
Patel’s primary qualification for the job is his loyalty to Donald Trump. He did a stint as a defense lawyer in Florida and one as a federal prosecutor in DOJ’s National Security Division, but he lacks the broad experience it takes to run the nation’s top law enforcement agency, which has broad investigatory powers and responsibilities.
The current process of appointing directors to a single 10-year term in office was established following the death of J. Edgar Hoover, who served as director for 48 years. It can be extended if Congress votes in favor, as they have done only one time, extending Director Robert Mueller’s term for an additional two years. The initial choice to replace Hoover, L. Patrick Gray, was nominated by Richard Nixon in February of 1973, but concerns arose over his partisanship, lack of independence from the White House, and poor handling of the Watergate investigation. Nixon withdrew his nomination two months later, and Gray, who was the acting director, promptly resigned.
It’s quite a contrast to the Patel confirmation, where, despite his rank partisanship, commitment to do the bidding of the White House, and rejection of any investigation into the events of January 6, all but two Republican senators voted to confirm him. Patel is not held in the high esteem that led to unanimous and near-unanimous votes on his predecessors’ confirmations. Even Chris Wray, Trump’s pick after he fired Jim Comey, was confirmed by a vote of 92-5. Comey lost only one vote among the senators for his confirmation. The six votes before that (two were for Mueller) were unanimous. Only one additional nominee, legendary Alabama civil rights Judge Frank M. Johnson, had his name withdrawn from consideration, due in his case to medical issues.
Patel is an election denier who comes to office with a published list of enemies he wants revenge against, although he maintained during the confirmation process that that wasn’t what it was. Apparently, Patel had some concerns that having an enemies list might be disqualifying for an FBI director. But no one should be deceived. This is, after all, Donald Trump’s pick for the job. Trump has never been shy about his demands for revenge against his enemies, posting “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” following his arraignment on federal charges over January 6.
/snip
Joyce Vance
Feb 20, 2025
The Senate bent the knee again, confirming Kash Patel for a 10-year term as director of the FBI. The 51-49 vote was mostly along party lines, with Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska joining the Democrats this afternoon.
Patel’s primary qualification for the job is his loyalty to Donald Trump. He did a stint as a defense lawyer in Florida and one as a federal prosecutor in DOJ’s National Security Division, but he lacks the broad experience it takes to run the nation’s top law enforcement agency, which has broad investigatory powers and responsibilities.
The current process of appointing directors to a single 10-year term in office was established following the death of J. Edgar Hoover, who served as director for 48 years. It can be extended if Congress votes in favor, as they have done only one time, extending Director Robert Mueller’s term for an additional two years. The initial choice to replace Hoover, L. Patrick Gray, was nominated by Richard Nixon in February of 1973, but concerns arose over his partisanship, lack of independence from the White House, and poor handling of the Watergate investigation. Nixon withdrew his nomination two months later, and Gray, who was the acting director, promptly resigned.
It’s quite a contrast to the Patel confirmation, where, despite his rank partisanship, commitment to do the bidding of the White House, and rejection of any investigation into the events of January 6, all but two Republican senators voted to confirm him. Patel is not held in the high esteem that led to unanimous and near-unanimous votes on his predecessors’ confirmations. Even Chris Wray, Trump’s pick after he fired Jim Comey, was confirmed by a vote of 92-5. Comey lost only one vote among the senators for his confirmation. The six votes before that (two were for Mueller) were unanimous. Only one additional nominee, legendary Alabama civil rights Judge Frank M. Johnson, had his name withdrawn from consideration, due in his case to medical issues.
Patel is an election denier who comes to office with a published list of enemies he wants revenge against, although he maintained during the confirmation process that that wasn’t what it was. Apparently, Patel had some concerns that having an enemies list might be disqualifying for an FBI director. But no one should be deceived. This is, after all, Donald Trump’s pick for the job. Trump has never been shy about his demands for revenge against his enemies, posting “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” following his arraignment on federal charges over January 6.
/snip
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