Tomorrow, the Senate will conduct a hearing on Kash Patel, the MAGA extremist
and “deep state” conspiracist Donald Trump wants to put in charge of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.

Patel has been brazen in announcing his intention to weaponize the FBI against
government officials, journalists, nonprofit groups, and the American people.

Here’s what Patel said on Steve Bannon’s podcast:

“We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American
citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come
after you.”

Numerous Republican leaders are warning against letting Patel run the FBI. And
there are hundreds of news stories about how bad it would be to put Patel in
charge of the bureau (or of anything, really).

But this just about says it all:

* In Trump’s first term, he tried to install Patel as second-in-command at the
FBI.

* That move was blocked by Bill Barr.

* Yes, that Bill Barr — Trump’s hand-picked Attorney General, who was one of Trump’s
most reliable defenders in his first term.

* Barr said, quote, “Over my dead body.”

* How unqualified and potentially calamitous must Patel be if even Bill Barr
didn’t want him?

One critical note when talking about the FBI: While the FBI has a vital role in
maintaining the rule of law, as an institution, it also has a long, shameful,
and ongoing history of discrimination, corruption, and brutality. It has
persecuted everyday Americans for the “crime” of standing up to power while
repeatedly letting massive criminality by billionaires and Big Business slide.

Look, we know that many MAGA senators — even though they know better — will
rubber stamp Patel’s nomination in groveling fealty to Donald Trump. But the
Republican majority in the Senate is wafer thin. We have to try to get 51
senators to reject Kash Patel for FBI director.

By the way, as we fight to block Trump’s dangerous and unqualified nominees for
essential roles throughout the federal government, some people ask what happens
if we defeat one person and Trump nominates someone else just as bad or even
worse. The answer is simple: we fight that person too, and the one after that,
and the one after that. What we don’t do — what we absolutely will not do — is
throw up our hands and give in. Not gonna happen.

To every United States senator: [[link removed]]

Do not confirm Kash Patel for FBI director.
[[link removed]]

Click to add your name now. [[link removed]]

Thanks for taking action.

For justice,

- Lisa Gilbert & Robert Weissman, Co-Presidents of Public Citizen


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