Donald Trump Selects Indian-American Kash Patel as New FBI Director

Kash Patel as New FBI Director: President-elect Trump on Saturday (November 30, 2024) named close friend Kash Patel as Director of the FBI. He’s the highest ranking Indian American in his incoming administration.

I am proud to announce that Kashyap 'Kash' Patel will serve as the next Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and 'America First' fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns.

Mr. Trump said Mr. Patel was instrumental in exposing “the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax” and is a champion of truth, accountability and the Constitution. Mr. Patel 44, was chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense in the last few weeks of the Trump Administration in 2017.

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Mr. Kash did an incredible job during my First Term, where he served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defence, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Mr. Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials,” he said.

“This FBI will end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the Border. Mr. Kash will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI,” Mr. Trump said.

Who is Kash Patel?

Born in New York Mr. Patel has his roots in Gujarat. But his parents are from East Africa — mother from Tanzania and father from Uganda. They came to the U.S. from Canada in 1970. “We are Gujarati,” he had told PTI in an earlier interview.

The family moved to Queens in New York — also known as Little India — in the late 70s. That’s where Mr. Patel was born and grew up. Mr. Patel’s parents are retired now and spend their time in both the U.S. and Gujarat. After his schooling in New York and college in Richmond, Virginia and law school in New York, Patel went to Florida where he was a state public defender for four years and then federal public defender for another four years.

From Florida he moved to Washington DC as a terrorism prosecutor at the Department of Justice. Here he was an international terrorism prosecutor for about three and a half years. During this period he worked on cases all over the world, in America, in East Africa as well as in Uganda and Kenya.

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“So, lots of trials, lots of international investigations, lots of time in court, understanding the federal system and trying cases and learning how to run investigations,” he said.

While still at the Department of Justice he went as a civilian to join Special Operations Command at the Department of Defense. At the Pentagon he sat as the Department of Justice’s lawyer with Special Forces people and worked interagency collaborative targeting operations around the world.

After a year he was pulled as senior counsel on counterterrorism by Congressman Davin Nunes, Chairman of the House Permanent Select on Intelligence Committee. After April 2017 he led the Russia investigation of the House Intelligence Committee. It was here where he got media attention and was part of drafting a GOP memo which, according to then President Donald Trump, exposed the role of the Democratic party and its leadership in the Russian investigation.

Mr. Patel is an Ice hockey fan and has been playing the sport since he was six. “I still play and I spend a lot of time volunteering coaching youth hockey in the area.”

Mr. Patel who attended both the Houston and Ahmedabad rallies of Mr. Trump and PM Modi in September 2019 and February 2020 had told PTI earlier that the relationship had gone down under the Biden Administration.

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