One former soldier and two active-duty U.S. Army soldiers were arrested over alleged schemes to send national defense information to China. 
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/active-duty-and-former-us-army-soldiers-arrested-theft-government-property-and-bribery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Thursday that Jian Zhao, and Li Tian, both active duty Army soldiers based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington, and former soldier Ruoyu Duan had been charged for stealing U.S. military secrets. They were accused of stealing top secret hard drives, information on weapon systems, and documents on missile defenses to sell to individuals based in China, the DOJ said. 
“The defendants arrested today are accused of betraying our country, actively working to weaken America’s defense capabilities and empowering our adversaries in China,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “They will face swift, severe, and comprehensive justice.”
Tian and Duan were charged in Oregon with conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property. Zhao was charged in Washington with conspiring to obtain and transmit national defense information, and for bribery and theft of government property.
“While bribery and corruption have thrived under China’s Communist Party, this behavior cannot be tolerated with our service members who are entrusted with sensitive military information, including national defense information,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The FBI and our partners will continue to work to uncover attempts by those in China to steal sensitive U.S. military information and hold all accountable who play a role in betraying our national defense.”
According to the indictment, Duan and Tian were involved in a conspiracy that began on or around November 28, 2021, to steal information on America’s operational capabilities by stealing technical manuals and other documentation. The scheme was active as recently as December 19, 2024, the DOJ said. Duan allegedly paid Tian to steal information on the Bradley and Stryker U.S. Army fighting vehicles. 
Zhao is accused of selling hard drives after July 2024 marked “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” to individuals in China for at least $10,000. He is also accused of stealing a government computer with information on the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and information related to a potential conflict between the U.S. and China. 
“These arrests underscore the persistent and increasing foreign intelligence threat facing our Army and nation,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett Cox of Army Counterintelligence Command. “Along with the Department of Justice and FBI, Army Counterintelligence Command will continue to work tirelessly to hold those accountable who irresponsibly and selfishly abandon the Army values and choose personal gain over duty to our nation.”

CHINA-POLITICS-TWO SESSIONS

Kash Patel’s FBI Arrests U.S. Army Members For ‘Betraying’ Country

China

kash patel

Pam Bondi

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday night that the Department of Justice had received &#8220;a truckload&#8221; of files on the FBI’s case against sex offender and Democrat donor Jeffrey Epstein.
Bondi told Fox News host Sean Hannity that she received the documents after giving the FBI a hard deadline to provide them.
&#8220;I gave [the FBI] a deadline of Friday at 8 a.m. to get us everything,&#8221; Bondi said, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/ag-pam-bondi-says-fbi-delivered-truckload-epstein-files-after-she-put-out-hard-deadline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>. &#8220;And a source had told me where the documents were being kept, Southern District of New York, shock. So, we got them all by Friday at 8 a.m.&#8221;
&#8220;Thousands of pages of documents,” she continued. “I have the FBI going through them&#8230;and Director [Kash] Patel is going to get us a detailed report as to why the FBI withheld all of those documents.”
Bondi described the documents she received as “a truckload of evidence.”
&#8220;And, you know, we&#8217;re going to go through it, go through it as fast as we can, but go through it very cautiously to protect all the victims of Epstein,&#8221; she said.
During this interview, Bondi also accused the Biden administration of failing to turn over the documents.
&#8220;No one did anything with them. And why were they sitting in the Southern District of New York? I want a full report on that,&#8221; Bondi said, according to Fox. &#8220;You know, sadly, these people don&#8217;t believe in transparency. But I think more unfortunately, I think a lot of them don&#8217;t believe in honesty.&#8221;
&#8220;And it&#8217;s a new day. It&#8217;s a new administration, and everything&#8217;s going to come out to the public. The public has the right to know Americans have a right to know,” she added.
Last week, Bondi announced on Jesse Watters’ Fox News program that she would release some Epstein files the next day, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pam-bondi-says-some-epstein-files-including-flight-logs-will-hopefully-be-released-thursday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Bondi said the release would contain “a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information,” adding that it’s “pretty sick what that man did – along with his co-defendant [Ghislaine Maxwell].”
Maxwell was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jeffrey-epsteins-ex-girlfriend-ghislaine-maxwell-sentenced-to-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced to 20 years</a> in prison for her role in trafficking underage girls for Epstein to assault.
But on the day the documents were expected to be released, Bondi <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pam-bondi-says-fbi-lied-to-her-about-turning-over-all-of-the-epstein-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote a letter</a> to Patel saying the FBI had lied to her about turning over all the Epstein files.
“Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein,” Bondi wrote to Patel. “In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein’s list of contacts, and a list of victims’ names and phone numbers.”
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi continued. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein. Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files.”
Patel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kash-patel-responds-to-pam-bondi-letter-about-jeffrey-epstein-documents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to Bondi’s letter by saying, “If records have been hidden, we will uncover them.”
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-fbi-official-who-wanted-to-dig-in-against-trump-admin-ousted-from-bureau">Top FBI Official Who Wanted To &#8216;Dig In&#8217; Against Trump Admin Ousted From Bureau</a>

Pam Bondi Says She Received ‘A Truckload’ Of Epstein Files After Accusing FBI Of Lying

Pam Bondi Says She Received A ‘Truckload’ Of Epstein Files After Accusing FBI Of Lying

Crime

Jeffrey Epstein

New York

Politics

Remember the scene from the TV special “The Mystery of Al Capone&#8217;s Vaults” in which Geraldo Rivera tried to open Al Capone&#8217;s vault, finally did, and there was nothing inside?
The reveal of the Epstein files was like that. And this has led to speculation that the Epstein files are still secretly somewhere, and the lack of justification for more material being out there is demonstrated by the lack of material.
This sort of stuff is annoying. I want all the Epstein files exposed, every single piece of them — all of it unredacted as much as humanly possible. Theoretically, the only information that should be redacted is information to protect the victims, certainly nothing to protect the allegations against perpetrators.
I want to know exactly who Jeffrey Epstein was, who was opping him — because the question of how he made his money is a serious question — and why law enforcement basically allowed him to gallivant around performing atrocities against young women on behalf of powerful men with his girlfriend, paramour, and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.
But that did not happen on Thursday, and I think these distractions are not great for the Trump administration.
The Trump administration has very serious work. I keep saying this because it&#8217;s important: I want the Trump administration to be highly successful. And there are important things to do.
We need to rebuild the American military. We need to rebuild the American economy and unleash its dynamism. We need to get our debt under control. We need to cleanse DEI from all aspects of the federal government. We need to reshape America&#8217;s foreign policy around rising threats like China.
There is much to do and not a lot of time to do it. So these sorts of shiny-object distractions that don&#8217;t materialize into anything are a problem. And I think they lend credence to the opponents of the Trump administration, which I absolutely don&#8217;t want to happen.
Thursday was a s***show when it came to the Epstein files.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2148-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
On Wednesday, Pam Bondi, the attorney general of the United States, announced she would be releasing new Epstein files showing names that have not been released before, unseen materials.
So everyone was waiting for the release of this information. Then, on Thursday morning, pictures started being released of social media influencers who were holding up binders that supposedly contained new Epstein information.
So, ok, fine. It&#8217;s an odd way to release it, but can we see what&#8217;s in it?
Then, over the course of the day, it turned out there was basically nothing in the binders; it was full of information that we already knew.
By the way, this is the second time this has happened. We were told that the JFK files were going to be released and that was going to explode everything. And that never happened. Because guess what? We pretty much know all there is to know about the JFK assassination.
There’s a conspiratorial angle that the Right seems to have fallen in love with: Unanswered questions must be answered in the most perverse possible way. Thinking that if the evidence isn&#8217;t there, but we just keep saying that there is a lack of evidence, and lack of evidence is actually proof of evidence… That kind of thinking is not rational.
I&#8217;m willing to follow this evidence wherever it leads. I want the answers the same as everyone else. The Epstein case is unlike the JFK assassination, where the assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald and there&#8217;s a plethora of video, forensic, and documentary evidence available. In the Epstein case, we really don&#8217;t know what the hell happened.
We still don&#8217;t know any of the key questions, such as who was running him, and if he was an opp, what exactly he was doing? Who were the people on the island? What kind of tapes are there?
All of those questions are unanswered. So I understand why there is so much dyspepsia over the Epstein case. But if you&#8217;re going to do a reveal, that means you better have some goods, something better come out. And it didn&#8217;t come out yesterday.
And I think people are right to be frustrated about it.
The release strategy was weird, and when it turned out there was nothing to it, the repercussions began.
The reason I’m sad about all of this is because there are serious things to be done. Trump has appointed an amazing cabinet. He&#8217;s got a big agenda, things to do, and a short time to do them.
These sorts of distractions are getting in the way of Trump doing what needs to be done.

US-POLITICS-JUSTICE-EPSTEIN

The Epstein Release Fiasco

Attorney General

Ben Shapiro

Federal Government

Ghislaine Maxwell

Opinion

FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly has proposed working with the mixed martial arts entertainment group the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to enhance the fitness of agents.
The comments about improving agents&#8217; physical fitness were reportedly made during a teleconference on Wednesday by Patel who was speaking with the heads of the FBI&#8217;s 55 field offices, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-director-kash-patel-bring-ufc-fbi-sources/story?id=119255318">ABC News</a> reported.
Patel, who was sworn in as director last Friday, reportedly said that he wanted to establish a relationship with the UFC to create a fitness program, though the details of what that would entail are still unclear.
A source with the UFC told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/fbi-director-kash-patel-seeks-relationship-ufc-report?intcmp=tw_fnc">Fox News</a> that while UFC President Dana White and Patel know each other, the UFC has not been made aware of any information regarding the two sides training with one another. White has been a longtime friend of President Donald Trump.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
JUST IN: Newly-installed FBI Director Kash Patel has proposed enhancing the FBI&#8217;s ranks with help from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the martial-arts entertainment giant whose wealthy CEO, Dana White, helped boost President Trump&#8217;s reelection. <a href="https://t.co/BHSwfsOrh8">https://t.co/BHSwfsOrh8</a> <a href="https://t.co/YWOxMeWDbO">pic.twitter.com/YWOxMeWDbO</a>
— ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1895199422293614964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
“There is training the FBI receives in physical altercations,” a former Justice Department official told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/28/us-news/fbi-director-kash-patel-wants-the-ufc-to-train-federal-agents-report/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">New York Post</a>. “If Kash Patel believed that should be beefed up, the answer is not to go to Donald Trump’s best friend who runs the UFC.”
The FBI declined comment to ABC News.
Patel was sworn in to his role on February 21 after being confirmed by the United States Senate. In one of his first moves as head of the agency, Patel wants to relocate 1,500 FBI staff outside of Washington, D.C., including moving 500 staff to Huntsville, Alabama, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-trump-patel-justice-department-8fa2f99b7915ee18def9fdf61150741f">Associated Press</a>.
Patel was confirmed narrowly in a 51-49 vote in the Senate. At Patel’s swearing-in ceremony, President Trump said he nominated Patel in large part because “of the respect the [FBI] agents had for him.”
“I think he’ll go down as the best ever at that position,” Trump said.
After his swearing-in, Patel began his first remarks as FBI director thanking the president.
“What a ride we have been on. What a courageous warrior and leader he has been, and the faith and trust he has put in me to lead the FBI is the greatest honor I will ever have in my life,” Patel said.
Patel is taking the helm of an agency that has been battered by scandal and controversies in recent years, including the Russian collusion conspiracy and questions over the bureau’s role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
Tim Pearce contributed to this piece.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kash-patel-reportedly-sworn-in-as-acting-atf-chief" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kash Patel Reportedly Sworn In As Acting ATF Chief</a>

Pam Bondi Swears In Kash Patel As FBI Director

Kash Patel Reportedly Proposes Working With UFC To Enhance FBI

Donald Trump

Executive

FBI Director Kash Patel responded to a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday that accused the FBI of lying to her about turning over its files on the notorious child sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.
&#8220;The FBI is entering a new era—one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice,&#8221; Patel said. &#8220;There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued.&#8221;
&#8220;If there are gaps, we will find them,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be. The oath we take is to the Constitution, and under my leadership, that promise will be upheld without compromise.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The FBI is entering a new era—one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice. There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be…
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1895250405400903882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
Patel&#8217;s response followed the letter from Bondi on Thursday in which she claimed that a source on Wednesday night told her that she had not received all the Epstein files despite the FBI’s repeated assurances that she had.
“Before you came into office, I requested the full and complete files related to Jeffrey Epstein,” Bondi wrote to Patel, according to a copy of the letter posted to X by Michael Shellenberger. “In response to this request, I received approximately 200 pages of documents, which consisted primarily of flight logs, Epstein’s list of contacts, and a list of victims’ names and phone numbers.”
“I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents,” Bondi continued. “Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein. Despite my repeated requests, the FBI never disclosed the existence of these files.”
A source who reviewed the files Bondi released told the New York Post that the documents would likely be a “disappointment” to those in the public hoping that the documents would provide new details about Epstein&#8217;s criminal scheme.
Many names from Epstein’s flight logs from Epstein’s private jet were already released as part of a lawsuit from one of his alleged victims. The names released include many famous people, including Prince Andrew of England, Cate Blanchett, Bill Clinton, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Michael Jackson, George Lucas, Kevin Spacy, Donald Trump, and Bruce Willis, according to a list published by Newsweek.
None of the individuals on that list have been charged with any wrongdoing, and many of them have claimed that they flew on Epstein’s plane for business meetings.
Epstein allegedly killed himself in 2019 while in federal custody awaiting trial for sex-trafficking.

Kash Patel Sworn-In As FBI Director

Kash Patel Responds To Pam Bondi Letter About Jeffrey Epstein Documents

General

U.S.

On Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel was reportedly <a href="//65D74AA4-6479-4E36-8531-55EAA603B36D/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sworn in</a> as acting chief of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi fired ATF chief counsel Pamela Hicks, <a href="//65D74AA4-6479-4E36-8531-55EAA603B36D/v" target="_blank" rel="noopener">saying</a>, “These people were targeting gun owners. Not going to happen under this administration.”
In March 2023, the Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs and the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance discussed with expert witnesses how the ATF under the Biden administration <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/joint-hearing-wrap-up-biden-administration-has-weaponized-the-atf-to-target-law-abiding-americans-turn-them-into-criminals%EF%BF%BC/#:~:text=The%20Biden%20Administration%20has%20weaponized,by%20the%20Administration%20guiding%20them." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed guidance</a> that protected gun owners. The committee said the ATF was “potentially subjecting individuals and small businesses to felony prison sentences and exorbitant fines if they do not comply with a new final rule.”
Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) pointed out that the ATF’s final rule targeted law-abiding gun owners while violent criminals who never registered their illegally obtained firearms were not targeted. He asked attorney Matthew Larosiere, “Do folks that kill other people apply for permits when getting a gun?”
“Certainly not in my experience,” Larosiere responded.
“Do criminals go out to their local gun shop and fill out the paperwork, and pray to the good lord that they’re not found out to be criminals when they purchase a gun,” Perry pressed. “I think it would be odd for them to do that, so no,” Larosiere answered.
In May 2024, over 20 states sued the Biden Department of Justice and the Biden administration ATF, accusing them of rewriting the definition of which people were required to become a federal firearms licensee. “Until now, only those who repetitively purchased and sold firearms as a regular course of business had to become a licensee,” they <a href="https://arkansasag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024-05-01-Kansas-Arkansas-Iowa-Montana-Filemarked-ATF-Complaint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “But through the Final Rule, defendants will now presume that anyone who sells or resells even one firearm with the intent to profit (no matter how little), combined with other (nebulously defined) evidence, is a firearms dealer who must become a licensee. This would put innocent firearms sales between law-abiding friends and family members within the reach of federal regulation. Such innocent sales between friends and family would constitute a felony if the seller did not in fact obtain a federal firearms license and perform a background check.”

Kash Patel’s Judiciary Hearing in Washington DC

Kash Patel Reportedly Sworn In As Acting ATF Chief

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)

Trump Administration

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino choked up during Monday&#8217;s broadcast of his eponymous show as he announced his plan to leave radio and podcasting behind and return to law enforcement.
Bongino, who served in the New York Police Department before taking a role in the United States Secret Service, said that he was accepting the job offered to him by President Donald Trump: Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The radio and podcast host began Monday&#8217;s show by asking a simple question, knowing that his entire audience was likely already aware that he&#8217;d been named to the FBI&#8217;s number two spot: &#8220;All right. How do you start today&#8217;s show?&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Dan Bongino <a href="https://twitter.com/dbongino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dbongino</a> with his VERY EMOTIONAL and HEARTFELT opening of his show today. We LOVE YOU, Dan! ❤️❤️🇺🇸🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/XoJYB9A1Gb">pic.twitter.com/XoJYB9A1Gb</a>
&mdash; MAGA Kitty (@SaveUSAKitty) <a href="https://twitter.com/SaveUSAKitty/status/1894056941044830680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Bongino referenced a &#8220;man card&#8221; that someone had once given him, offering to turn it in temporarily because he expected the topic of his show would result in him getting emotional — and he was right.
&#8220;I got a call from the president, and he couldn&#8217;t have been nicer,&#8221; Bongino said. &#8220;Obviously I&#8217;ll keep the contents between us but I think you get the gist of what it was about &#8230; this is now real.&#8221;
&#8220;The president, Attorney General Bondi, and now Director — gosh, that sounds good to say — FBI Director Kash Patel offered this role, a role I expressed an interest in, and ladies and gentlemen &#8230;&#8221; Bongino choked up then, saying that he&#8217;d warned the audience it was going to happen. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to accept the role, proudly, as the deputy director, the number two spot at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.&#8221;
&#8220;Folks, it&#8217;s a lot to walk away from,&#8221; he continued, saying that he had big plans for what would happen with his show and would share what he could as time passed. &#8220;I love you guys, and Bongino Army out there, I hope you understand, I got a couple of negative comments you know, &#8216;Dan, you should have let us know.&#8217; I hope you understand &#8230; you do not ever get ahead of the President of the United States.&#8221;

Politicon 2018 – Day 1

‘It’s A Lot To Walk Away From’: Dan Bongino Chokes Up On Air Announcing Plan To Exit Radio

'It's A Lot To Walk Away From': Dan Bongino Chokes Up On Air Announcing Plan To Exit Radio

Conservative Media

Dan Bongino

Media

President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that newly-confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel had selected former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino to serve as his deputy.
Trump shared the news in a Truth Social post, noting that Bongino would be sacrificing a successful career in radio and podcasting to take the job and once again serve his country.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 President Donald J. Trump names <a href="https://twitter.com/dbongino?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@dbongino</a> as Deputy Director of the FBI.
Congratulations, Dan! <a href="https://t.co/p0sABQCFx3">pic.twitter.com/p0sABQCFx3</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1893839117248532750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice!&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel.&#8221;
&#8220;Dan has a Masters Degree in Psychology from C.U.N.Y., and an MBA from Penn State. He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve,&#8221; he continued.
&#8220;Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly. Congratulations Dan!&#8221; Trump concluded.
&#8220;Thank you Mr. President, Attorney General Bondi, and Director Patel,&#8221; Bongino replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Thank you Mr. President, Attorney General Bondi, and Director Patel. <a href="https://t.co/bJqIDbWLEE">pic.twitter.com/bJqIDbWLEE</a>
&mdash; Dan Bongino (@dbongino) <a href="https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/1893839865864745168?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Patel was confirmed largely along party lines — with Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voting with the Democrats — after clearing a number of procedural hurdles throughout the confirmation process.

2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards

Trump Announces Former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino Will Serve As FBI Deputy Director

Secret Service

The following is an edited transcript of an interview between Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley and U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/analyzing-trump-s-cabinet-with-senator-mullin-2-23-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday edition of Morning Wire</a>.
So far, President Trump is batting a thousand on confirmations for his cabinet secretary nominees. Just this week Kash Patel was confirmed as Director of the FBI while Labor Secretary Linda Chavez-DeRemer seems to have secured the support of the Senate. This is the fastest pace since 2001. Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin joined Morning Wire to discuss Trump&#8217;s cabinet nominees, the Senate’s strategic approach to the confirmation process, and the significance of the GOP’s &#8220;Big Tent&#8221; strategy in uniting diverse political factions within the Republican Party.
* * *
JOHN: Joining us to discuss the rapid fire series of confirmations and where the Trump cabinet and agenda stands now is Oklahoma’s Senator Markwayne Mullin. Senator, first of all thank you for joining us.
MULLIN: It&#8217;s my honor. Thanks for having me on.
JOHN: Let’s start with Kash Patel. You’ve been a strong advocate for Patel – why do you believe we need a “disruptor” like him to lead the FBI?
MULLIN: I wouldn&#8217;t describe him as a &#8220;disruptor.&#8221; I would say he&#8217;s someone who chases the facts. He exposed the wrongs, or the hypocrisy, or the cover-ups within FBI. He did this way before he was even being considered to be the director of the FBI. He was a whistleblower before people were even looking into it. You take somebody like him who understands the intel system, understands the mission of the FBI and has been concerned enough back years ago that he was willing to expose it. Why wouldn&#8217;t you want somebody like that? Because he&#8217;s not there to destroy the FBI. He&#8217;s there to get them back on mission focus. He&#8217;s there to support the field agents, to put them back on the mission focus of protecting the American people, not taking directive orders from a Democrat Party that&#8217;s wanting to investigate students for showing up to school board meetings, or classifying Catholics – and I&#8217;m not joking when I say this – as possible terrorists because they disagreed with the Democrat agenda, especially when it came to abortions. That was what that was all about. It&#8217;s concerning that the Democrat Party had weaponized the FBI for political gain and political purposes. What Kash is going to do is put them back on mission focus. That means he&#8217;s going to reform the 7th floor of the Hoover Building and take the politics out of it – and put the American people back in focus.
<div id="attachment_868749" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-868749" class="size-large wp-image-868749" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2196133096-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 30: Kash Patel, nominee to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC on January 30, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2196133096-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2196133096-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2196133096-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/GettyImages-2196133096.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images</div>
JOHN: Thus far all of President Trump’s nominees have gotten through the confirmation process relatively smoothly. Is this simply due to GOP majorities – or do you believe that Democrat opposition has been weakened by Trump’s mandate?
MULLIN: I think you’ve got a little bit of both. I think the American people spoke very loud and on November 5th, when he won the popular vote and obviously electoral vote. I think the Democrat Party is trying to reorganize and find themselves, and they can&#8217;t. They keep reverting back to 2017 rhetoric and I hope they stay there — because if they stay there, we&#8217;re going to continue to win elections. But at the same time, what you&#8217;ve seen is a new leader in the Senate with Leader Thune. He is 100% grinding the Democrats down from the get go. He said, “We can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way. It&#8217;s up to you.” And so once the president got confirmed and sworn into office on the 20th, what we did is we immediately started the clock on these agents and on these nominees, and these nominees haven&#8217;t stopped. What I mean by the clock, just to explain to your listeners, after they get out of committee, which we already had people preset. So, first of all, Leader Thune directed the chairs of the committees to get started on the hearings early, even before Trump was sworn into office. That normally doesn&#8217;t take place. So he preset it. We came in on January 3rd. The president wasn&#8217;t going to get sworn in until January 20th, but we already started hearing so we could get them reported out of committee and onto the floor for the hearing. So starting on January 20th, he started the clock on these nominees. Once they get reported out of committee, it&#8217;s called a 24-hour soak. Then, if they&#8217;re a cabinet position, meaning a secretary, it is a 30-hour debate. So that&#8217;s when we say we&#8217;re invoking cloture. It&#8217;s a 20 or 30 hour debate. So it&#8217;s 54 hours on secretary levels. On directors, like Kash Patel, when you invoke culture on them, you have a two hour debate. So while you still have a 24-hour soak, you only have two hours of debate on that person. So you can move those faster. He has literally kept that clock running 24/7, 7 days a week even when we&#8217;re not here. The Democrats will negotiate and say, “Okay, what we will do is we&#8217;ll continue the clock if you don&#8217;t make us vote on Saturday and Sunday – well, not Sunday.” Like we did with Pete Hegseth on Saturday. They said, ”If you don&#8217;t make us stay over on the weekend, we will allow the clocks to run consecutively, even though we&#8217;re not here.” So, we&#8217;ll go ahead and invoke culture on the next person. When the 30 hours run out, say, it&#8217;s 6:00 in the morning on Saturday, the next 30 hours will start. So when we get back here on Monday, we can confirm two people at once. That&#8217;s why we&#8217;re so far ahead, because Leader Thune has not let up the pressure at all, not one bit, on the Democrats.
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JOHN: Really not wasting a second there. Wednesday was the hearing for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer. She was somewhat controversial on the Right because of her past support of pro-union policies and her past work for Planned Parenthood. You were one of her key proponents, even suggesting her nomination to President Trump. How do you envision her impacting labor relations in the current political climate?
MULLIN: Well, you have to go back to the coalition that President Trump has built. So, President Trump has brought a unique coalition together, right? Let&#8217;s just look at Tulsi. That conversation started over two years ago between President Trump and I, when he asked how do I get Libertarian and Independents to vote for us? We don&#8217;t have to win their vote, but we need to increase their percentages. I said, &#8220;Let&#8217;s bring Tulsi in.&#8221; Immediately that relationship started. Tulsi&#8217;s relationship with Bobby is what brought Bobby onto the campaign and the President quickly embraced him when he asked us to go to for me to be a surrogate to Indian country for him — even though a Republican hadn&#8217;t won Indian country since Nixon — President Trump wanted to put a special interest towards them. And so he ended up winning 63% of the Native American vote. When he asked, “Do you think we can win it?” I said, “Sir, you won all 77 counties in Oklahoma. There&#8217;s no greater population of Native American tribes in one area other than Oklahoma.&#8221; And I said, “So if you can win it in Oklahoma, you can win it nationally.” When you start looking at the unions, he asked right after Sean O&#8217;Brien, who had him and I had obviously public, very public disagreements. He asked us just a couple of months later. “Hey, I need you guys to work together.” His phone call to me was his [saying?], “Listen, we need the union votes. I want you to make friends with Sean. I believe you guys will get along. I talked to him. You guys actually have a lot in common.” He asked Sean to do the same thing. We got in a room together, and we&#8217;ve been friends ever since that day. And so the coalition that the president&#8217;s brought together is unique. At the same time, we have to understand that we can&#8217;t always use this conservative purity test when the president has got a mandate from the American people that he&#8217;s working for everybody. And that means this new coalition, we have to stay true to our values, but understand we&#8217;re accepting individuals that we may not 100% agree to, but we’ve got to show them some love. And Lori represents that. We have our differences, obviously. We&#8217;re a Right-to-Work state, a very proud Right-to-Work state. That&#8217;s what started the whole confrontation, honestly, between Sean and I. But at the same time, the unions have a place in this country, and I recognize that. There&#8217;s not a successful business that doesn&#8217;t have successful business employees. And there&#8217;s not an employee that has a good job that doesn&#8217;t have a business to work for. So they take both of us. Lori was a great compromise. It was one of those areas that, yeah, we&#8217;re going to give the unions a nod. We won 59% of the union vote, which he&#8217;s the first Republican president to do that in decades. We&#8217;re going, we&#8217;re going to give you a little nod, agree that we disagree on some issues, but we&#8217;re going to find common ground to work for because they&#8217;re looking for a party right now. The Democrat woke agenda doesn&#8217;t fit the workforce that we have in America right now. And so Sean and I spoke, Sean actually brought Lori to me and said, &#8220;What do you think about Lori? I think this is someone that the unions can support.&#8221; And I said, &#8220;I think that&#8217;s a great idea. Let&#8217;s talk to the president about it.&#8221; So we both visit with the president at different times about it. The president loved the idea, and that&#8217;s how it happened. So, I get that some of my conservative friends out there had reservations about it, but if we want to continue to win elections for the Republican Party and not go down this socialist woke agenda road that the Biden administration was trying to move us towards, then we got to understand we&#8217;re gonna have to allow some people in our party that we can welcome in and start working on things we have in common, not just focused on the differences.
JOHN: Well, that Big Tent approach clearly paid dividends in this last election for Trump, winning percentages of demographics we haven’t seen Republicans win in decades, as you said.
MULLIN: That&#8217;s right.
JOHN: Now you&#8217;re a member of the Senate GOP Deputy Whip team, which allows you to influence the legislative agenda significantly. What are your top legislative priorities for the 119th Congress?
MULLIN: Well deregulation is my biggest focus, the deregulation of the business sector. You’ve got to start with certain focuses and my focus is on energy. By the way, President Trump is all on board on this too, not just because it&#8217;s my agenda. He sees it the same way, because we both come from a business perspective. I tell everybody, when you make decisions, it will be based on two things: the way you were raised and your life experience. My life experience is business.  And you understand when you&#8217;re in business that everything that you factor as a cost starts and begins with energy. You can&#8217;t build a product and you can&#8217;t deliver a product with that without factoring in the energy cost because it takes energy to build it and it takes energy to deliver it. So, it&#8217;s always a baseline add-on when you&#8217;re talking about cost. So if you&#8217;re going to bring down inflation, you’ve got to bring down energy. The only way we bring down energy prices is you’ve got to make it conducive that people can trust their long term investment and not just four years at a time. But most energy companies are investing 15 to 20 years at a time when they look at returns. So you’ve got to have stability in the energy market. And that means you’ve got to have deregulation that&#8217;s not just an executive order, but it&#8217;s legislation and made into law. So it can&#8217;t be overturned on day one, like Joe Biden did to the Trump administration. So, stability in the regulatory market is my number one goal.
<div id="attachment_880601" style="width: 873px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-880601" class="size-large wp-image-880601" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2200061297-863x576.jpg" alt="Elon Musk (L) holds a chainsaw with Argentine President Javier Milei during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort &amp; Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on February 20, 2025." width="863" height="576" />SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images</div>
JOHN: Final question. Now the big bugaboo for Democrats is DOGE and its leader Elon Musk. How do you and your Republican colleagues in the Senate feel about how DOGE is going about its business?
MULLIN: I can&#8217;t speak for everybody in the Senate, especially my colleagues, but I&#8217;ll take it back to what I said earlier. We all make decisions based on how we were raised and our life experiences. So when you look from a business perspective, not a political perspective, you understand that every successful business out there, large or small, has hired a consultant at some point to come in and overlook their business operations. Not that they don&#8217;t know what they&#8217;re doing, it&#8217;s just that a consultant comes in from an unbiased perspective and just simply looks at numbers. And as a business owner, sometimes you can have pet projects that you just continue to dump money into that doesn&#8217;t make any sense. And there&#8217;s no way for it to be successful, but you&#8217;re so invested in it, you just can&#8217;t find a way out. And when a consultant looks at it and goes, “Hey, this makes no sense,” it opens your eyes up. Well, take politics, for example, you&#8217;ve got someone that&#8217;s been in there for 40 years. They’ve got a project in their state that doesn&#8217;t make any sense to continue because it&#8217;s outdated, but they&#8217;re personally connected to it and they&#8217;re not going to let it pass. Well, you take Elon Musk, who&#8217;s the most successful entrepreneur we&#8217;ve had in our lifetime and he&#8217;s working for the federal government as a free consultant. Consultants are typically expensive — and he&#8217;s doing it for free and giving his resources for free, and he&#8217;s looking at these programs from an unbiased perspective. Just the numbers. Does it work for the taxpayers? Does it make sense? How much waste, fraud and abuse is in the taxpayer dollar right now? And he&#8217;s exposing it at alarming rates. The reason I say alarming is because you think, ”Why haven&#8217;t we seen this?” Just take Social Security alone.You see the amount of people who are over 150 that are still on Social Security. I&#8217;m thinking, “I don&#8217;t remember seeing that report.” We celebrate people when they turn 100, and you typically see those in the paper. 150? I think that&#8217;d be pretty much news. I haven&#8217;t seen any of these individuals, but they&#8217;re still on the books for Social Security. Just simply cleaning up things like that makes a huge difference. That&#8217;s what a consultant can do, and that&#8217;s the role that DOGE is playing with Elon Musk, and I look at it from that perspective. Like I said, I can talk to my other colleagues and see how they look at it. But that&#8217;s what I&#8217;ve been on all these media outlets saying — the same thing that I am saying to you: try and argue with that perspective. You can&#8217;t. Because it does make sense. That&#8217;s why, that&#8217;s why private companies do it.
JOHN: Yeah, it doesn&#8217;t. I think it&#8217;s making sense to a lot of Americans as they watch this, polling shows that Trump&#8217;s approval is higher than it&#8217;s ever been than at any point in his first term. So things are going pretty well. He&#8217;s got a lot of momentum right now.
MULLIN: He has highly favorable numbers in Oklahoma. Literally, the numbers just came out the other day. It just blows my mind that his numbers are that good, and I&#8217;m just speaking for Oklahoma. His numbers obviously are good across the country.
JOHN: Well, senator, thank you so much for taking the time.
MULLIN: Thank you. Appreciate it.
JOHN: That was Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma – and this has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire/analyzing-trump-s-cabinet-with-senator-mullin-2-23-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunday edition of Morning Wire</a>.
***

Senate HELP Committee Holds Confirmation Hearing For Lori Chavez-DeRemer

‘Grinding The Democrats Down’: Sen. Markwayne Mullin On Trump’s Cabinet And The GOP Game Plan

'Grinding The Democrats Down': Sen. Markwayne Mullin On Trump’s Cabinet And The GOP Game Plan

Elon Musk

Energy

John Thune

Morning Wire

Oklahoma

President Trump

Social Security

U.S. Senate

FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly plans to relocate hundreds of FBI staff outside of the nation&#8217;s capital to field offices around the country.
Patel was sworn in to his role on Friday after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this week. In one of his first moves as head of the agency, Patel wants to relocate 1,500 FBI staff outside of Washington, D.C., including moving 500 staff to Huntsville, Alabama, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fbi-trump-patel-justice-department-8fa2f99b7915ee18def9fdf61150741f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>.
Patel was confirmed narrowly in a 51-49 vote in the Senate. At Patel’s swearing-in ceremony, President Donald Trump said he nominated Patel in large part because “of the respect the [FBI] agents had for him.”
“I think he&#8217;ll go down as the best ever at that position,” Trump said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
PRESIDENT TRUMP: &quot;One of the reasons I loved Kash and wanted to put him in was the respect the agents had for him. I think he&#39;ll go down as the best ever at that position.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/pLqv51pbGi">pic.twitter.com/pLqv51pbGi</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1893048294487535700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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After his swearing-in, Patel began his first remarks as FBI director thanking the president.
“What a ride we have been on. What a courageous warrior and leader he has been, and the faith and trust he has put in me to lead the FBI is the greatest honor I will ever have in my life,” Patel said.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: Kash Patel&#39;s full remarks after being sworn in as FBI Director:
&quot;Anyone who thinks the American Dream is dead, look right here. You&#39;re talking to a first-generation Indian kid who is about to lead the law enforcement community in the greatest nation on God&#39;s Earth.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/PQrCkme9az">pic.twitter.com/PQrCkme9az</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1893063366882603193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Patel is taking the helm of an agency that has been battered by scandal and controversies in recent years, including the Russian collusion conspiracy and questions over the bureau’s role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The newly installed FBI director said his mission at the agency will be to “let good cops be cops — and rebuild trust in the FBI,” he told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kash-patel-takes-reins-scandal-ridden-fbi-america-always-mindset" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>.
During his confirmation process, Patel presented himself as a reformer who would salvage the FBI’s diminished reputation with the American public. Republicans have been especially critical of the agency in recent months, though the FBI has taken criticism from Democrats, too, in the past decade over its handling of the 2016 presidential election and its investigation into then-candidate Hilary Clinton’s handling of classified information.
On Friday, Patel promised “accountability” for the agency, but also a renewed focus on the FBI’s traditional law enforcement role.
“There will be accountability within the FBI and outside of the FBI, and we will do it through rigorous constitutional oversight starting this weekend,” Patel said. “Anyone who wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens here or abroad will face the full wrath of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Kash Patel

Kash Patel To Relocate Hundreds Of FBI Staff Out Of DC: Report

Department of Justice

Washington D.C.

New FBI Director Kash Patel issued a brief statement from his official X account shortly after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 51-49 vote that fell mainly along party lines.
Patel earned the votes of 51 Republicans, with Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voting no alongside 47 Democrats — after a contentious hearing and a series of Democrat attempts to delay his confirmation.
&#8220;I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal bureau of Investigation,&#8221; Patel&#8217;s statement began.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I am honored to be confirmed as the ninth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for your unwavering confidence and support.
The FBI has a storied legacy—from the “G-Men” to safeguarding our nation in the wake of…
&mdash; FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1892670378436128994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Thank you to President Trump and Attorney General Bondi for your unwavering confidence and support,&#8221; Patel added. &#8220;The FBI has a storied legacy—from the &#8216;G-Men&#8217; to safeguarding our nation in the wake of 9/11.&#8221;
Patel went on to reflect on the current state of the FBI, noting that public trust in the institution was at an all-time low and the American people believed that it had been politicized, particularly in recent years.
&#8220;The American people deserve an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice. The politicalization of our justice system has eroded public trust—but that ends today,&#8221; Patel continued. &#8220;My mission as Director is clear: let good cops be cops—and rebuild trust in the FBI. Working alongside the dedicated men and women of the Bureau and our partners, we will rebuild an FBI the American people can be proud of.&#8221;
&#8220;And to those who seek to harm Americans—consider this your warning. We will hunt you down in every corner of this planet,&#8221; he concluded. &#8220;Mission First. America Always. Let’s get to work.&#8221;
Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose confirmation was also delayed by Democrats, offered her congratulations to Patel in a post, saying, &#8220;Congratulations to my good friend @FBIDirectorKash! Kash is extremely passionate about restoring the reputation of the FBI, and I look forward to working closely with him to end violent crime, protect our national security, and make America safe again.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Congratulations to my good friend <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FBIDirectorKash</a>! 
Kash is extremely passionate about restoring the reputation of the FBI, and I look forward to working closely with him to end violent crime, protect our national security, and make America safe again. <a href="https://t.co/wEYUsUKgWj">https://t.co/wEYUsUKgWj</a>
&mdash; Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1892670740719075819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Kash Patel Issues Statement Following Confirmation Vote: ‘Let’s Get To Work’

Kash Patel Issues Statement Following Confirmation Vote: 'Let's Get To Work'

On Tuesday, the GOP-led Senate confirmed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kash-patel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kash Patel</a> to become director of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a>, affirming President Donald Trump&#8217;s nominee to take over a bureau that has faced claims of politicization in recent years.
All but two Republicans voted in favor of Patel, resulting in a 51-49 tally. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) joined with the Democrats and independents in opposing the nominee.
&#8220;I look forward to working with Mr. Patel to restore the integrity of the FBI and get it focused on its critical mission,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said in remarks <a href="https://x.com/LeaderJohnThune/status/1892641451256811752" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before</a> the vote.
Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-nominates-fighter-kash-patel-for-fbi-director" target="_blank" rel="noopener">selected</a> Patel, a top investigator for the House Intelligence Committee who later served in high-level national security positions within the president&#8217;s first administration, in late November.
&#8220;Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,&#8221; Trump said in a statement.
Trump went on to assert that his pick to lead the FBI &#8220;played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.&#8221;
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Over the past few years, the FBI has faced criticism from the president and his allies over its investigation into Trump&#8217;s suspected links to Russia, the raid of Mar-a-Lago, allegedly <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/258404/fbi-director-denies-targeting-pro-life-activists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeting</a> pro-life activists, and more.
Lawmakers clashed over whether Patel is fit to lead the FBI, with his supporters arguing he would restore trust in the bureau while critics <a href="https://x.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1890047644153831612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voiced</a> unease about politicization and his qualifications.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, <a href="https://x.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1892630536142643372" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X that Patel &#8220;is a dangerous extremist who will use the FBI to retaliate against his and Trump’s political enemies.&#8221;
Patel appeared for a confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee at the end of last month. The nominee <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/01/30/patel_opening_statement_the_public_trust_in_the_fbi_can_only_be_restored_if_there_is_full_transparency.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that protecting the rights in the Constitution was &#8220;of the utmost importance&#8221; to him.
Following a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kash-patel-nomination-for-fbi-director-advances-to-full-senate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-week delay</a> at the behest of the Democrats, the panel voted 12-10 to favorably report Patel&#8217;s nomination to the full Senate. A vote to break the filibuster happened earlier on Thursday.
The two Republican defectors, <a href="https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1892609559702770108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Collins</a> and <a href="https://x.com/lisamurkowski/status/1892651718053396919" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Murkowski</a>, each released statements in the hours before the final vote that said Patel failed to assuage their concerns about his political record.
An FBI director answers directly to the U.S. Attorney General and serves a term of up to 10 years. Chris Wray, a Trump nominee who stayed on as FBI director in the Biden administration, stepped down last month.
The Senate has confirmed more than a dozen nominees for top roles in Trump&#8217;s second-term administration, including Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Senate Confirms Kash Patel As FBI Director

Congress

Presidential nomination