A senior Republican has given full-throated backing to Kash Patel’s nomination as head of the FBI, revealing he personally urged Donald Trump to bring the controversial former Department of Justice official “to the table” and looks forward to watching him rip the agency “apart.”
Speaking with NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday morning, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) told host Kristen Welker that Patel “represents the type of change that we need to see in the FBI,” adding that “this entire agency needs to be cleaned out. It’s not doing its job.”
A diehard MAGA loyalist, Patel has leveled severe criticism at federal investigative agencies, writing in his 2023 book Government Gangsters that the “FBI has became so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump had previously considered Patel for the deputy director post back in 2020, but the plan encountered serious pushback from senior officials, with former Attorney General William Barr later writing in his memoir he had told then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that Patel would run the FBI “over my dead body.”
Welker put these comments to Hagerty on Sunday, asking the Senator “how seriously do you take Barr’s warnings?”
Hagerty replied by claiming President Joe Biden’s administration is currently packed with unqualified officials.
“President Trump is entitled to name his appointees,” Hagerty said. “That is exactly what he’s doing, and I’m gonna support this appointment.”
Welker nevertheless pressed the Senator over how firmly Barr had previously opposed Patel moving up the ranks.
“I’m saying there are people that are serving the current administration that are woefully inexperienced,” Hagerty responded. “I think Khash does have relevant experience, particularly when it comes to the mandate the American public has signed of turning these agencies around that have become completely corrupted.”
“He’s probably the best at uncovering what’s happened to the FBI,” he added. “I look forward to seeing him taking it apart.”
