Kash Patel’s confirmation prospects get a boost from GOP senators who want FBI ‘de-politicized’

Kash Patel, the nominee for FBI director, got a warm reception on Capitol Hill this week from GOP senators who said they back his plans to overhaul the bureau and root out alleged political bias from investigations.

The senators said they want the bureau “de-politicized” and brought back to its “original mission” of fighting crime.

Several faulted recent FBI leaders for leading the agency astray, including former FBI Director James Comey and current FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“We’ll get him confirmed. I’m really confident about that,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said of Mr. Patel. “Obviously, he’s the one that uncovered what was happening at the FBI when they were being weaponized against President Trump, the [Steele] dossier report and the Russia collusion.”

“If you’re going to clean up the FBI and actually get them focused on mission rather than politics, but then refocus them on actually putting America first, doing their job — Kash is the perfect person for that.”

Mr. Patel, who has worked in the Defense Department and as an advisor to the White House National Security Council, served as a senior counsel to House Republicans investigating the FBI’s Trump-Russia collusion probe.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said he likes Mr. Wray, but he thinks it is time for a “fresh start.”

Mr. Graham said Mr. Patel would be a good pick to “go kind of clean out the place.”

The Washington Times reported that sources inside the FBI said Mr. Wray, whose 10-year term expires in 2027, is preparing to resign from the bureau by Inauguration Day.

Mr. Wray called an all-employee town hall for Wednesday but did not specify what he plans to speak about.

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the incoming chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a fierce critic of Mr. Wray and the current FBI culture, vouched for Mr. Patel after they met at the Capitol.

“We’ve had a politicization of the FBI, and I guess I’m satisfied that he wants Congress to be able to do its job for oversight,” he said. “Not doing like Wray did a couple weeks ago, like turning down testifying before the committee, all those sorts of things … I’m satisfied by the answers I got.”

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, another Judiciary member who met with Mr. Patel this week, said Mr. Patel is on track for Senate confirmation next month.

“We talked about the importance of restoring the reputation of the FBI as a non-partisan law enforcement investigative agency,” he said. “I told Mr. Patel, is that no one should have to go through what President Trump went through by a partisan Department of Justice and FBI. My goal would be to restore the non-partisan functioning of the chief law enforcement agency,” he said. “To me, that is the goal. Mr. Patel said he shares that goal.”