Former FBI agents go to bat for Kash Patel to be the bureau’s next director

Former FBI agents say they want President-elect Donald Trump to appoint Kash Patel, a former senior national security official, to be FBI Director.

The ex-agents said Mr. Patel, who is in the mix of candidates Mr. Trump is considering to shake up the FBI, would be perfect to take on an agency they say is in dire need of new management.

The FBI has been under scrutiny for political bias against conservatives since Mr. Trump first burst onto the political scene.

Dal Rae Beach, a former supervisory special agent who worked at the bureau for 13 years before becoming an FBI whistleblower, said Mr. Patel seems like someone who is not afraid to “take the fight to the ground.”

“For example, if he’s saying I’m not going to tolerate retaliation against whistleblowers, I’m not going to punish people if they want to be practicing Catholics, I feel like that’s the kind of director we really need,” she told The Washington Times.

“One of the issues I have seen in my 13 years at the FBI is that you have a bunch of self-aggrandizing narcissists who essentially just want to be ’yes men’ so that they can get promoted.”

Ms. Beach said, “Given Kash Patel has an amazing background in national security and exposed the inner workings of the FBI and how it’s very toxic.”

She said, “I think that is the kind of person that we needed the FBI, because you just see so many people who don’t want to rock the boat. They just kind of want to make sure that they get what they think they deserve. Even if they see things that are wrong.”

Mr. Patel previously served in Mr. Trump’s first administration as chief of staff to the acting Secretary of Defense. Before that, he was a senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence on the National Security Council.

He also served as the senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under Chairman Devin Nunes, California Republican, where he spearheaded the investigation into the Russian active measures campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election.

“He seems like a no-nonsense guy. I’m just so tired of the same old, same old,” said former FBI special agent of 24 years Daniel Boyer.

Mr. Patel also has his critics.

Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe recently said that “no part of the FBI’s mission is safe with Kash Patel in any position of leadership in the FBI, and certainly not in the deputy director’s job.”

Mr. Boyer said that Mr. McCabe was speaking for the FBI establishment that Mr. Trump and others want to change.

“I can tell you the vast majority of agents are just so sick of the same old corruption and FBI management,” Mr. Boyer said.

Ben Souther, another former FBI agent, said his first impression of Mr. Patel was that he was “gritty.”

“I like him. … I think he can certainly bring the cultural changes needed in the bureau,” he said. “It seems like he prioritizes the Constitution and the American people over political initiatives, which is how an FBI director should be.”

Mr. Souther said he listened to Mr. Patel’s previous podcast interviews and was impressed with his stances on justice system issues.

“He’s a really transparent guy who was a public defender, so he understands due process to an extent that most people won’t,” he said. “As an FBI agent, I’m a fact-finder. I’m not here to prosecute anyone. It’s not my job. My job is to find facts and take it to, hopefully, an apolitical [Assistant US Attorney].”