Last night, Donald Trump announced that he was nominating Kash Patel to serve as FBI director. Every person in America who believes in liberty and honest government should be celebrating that announcement.

The Obama and Biden administrations were responsible for so many pernicious policies that it’s a bit hard to keep track. However, one can easily argue that the worst thing that happened during their two presidencies was that they transformed the FBI from a law enforcement agency into the police arm of the Democrat party, which they then weaponized against ordinary Americans who hadn’t broken the law but who had opposed Democrats.

To this end, the FBI spied on Donald Trump’s first campaign, undermined his presidency, and, once his first term ended, persecuted everyone with whom they disagreed, ranging from Trump to abortion opponents to parents upset by so-called “transgender” madness in schools to hunting down the thousands who showed up on January 6 to exercise their First Amendment rights to protest and assembly.

Regarding January 6, I’ll note, quickly, that there were clearly operatives on the ground crowding people into the Capitol building and that the Capitol police opened the hermetically-sealed magnetic doors and welcomed people in. (Here’s a long list of all the things Democrats in the government, especially those in the FBI, did to terrorize Americans following January 6.) It was always a trap, and the FBI was involved from beginning to end.

Public domain image.

Now, though, the FBI may finally be brought to heel, and that’s because Trump has nominated Kash Patel to serve as the new director of the FBI. Trump views the FBI as a law enforcement agency for federal crimes, not as his KGB:

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. He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution. Kash did an incredible job during my First Term, where he served as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense, Deputy Director of National Intelligence, and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council. Kash has also tried over 60 jury trials. 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. Kash will work under our great Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI.

Kash has made clear that his goal is to shut down the FBI, which has no constitutional mandate, so the executive and his most trusted agents have wide latitude to manage it. Then, Kash will return the good agents to work on actual federal crimes rather than persecuting the Democrat party’s ideological enemies.

Kash Patel: "I'd shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the Deep State. Then, I’d take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops. You're cops—go be cops."

"Every… pic.twitter.com/lBexXKSpBf

— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyan762) December 1, 2024

Currently, the usual suspects are saying that Kash is unqualified because he didn’t rise up within the ranks of the FBI. Bill Barr exemplifies this attitude, although he was speaking of Kash as a potential Deputy FBI director, and acknowledges that directors needn’t be insiders:

Here’s Bill Barr on Kash Patel pic.twitter.com/oSbQZGoQeg

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 1, 2024

I categorically opposed making Patel deputy FBI director. I told Mark Meadows it would happen “over my dead body.” In the first place, all leadership positions in the bureau, except the director, have always been FBI agents. They’ve all gone through the same agent training and have had broad experience in the field and at headquarters. Someone with no background as an agent would never be able to command the respect necessary to run the day-to-day operations of the bureau. Furthermore, Patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency. (Emphasis mine.)

Unwittingly, Barr has perfectly stated why Kash should be head of the FBI. He’s not a company man, so he lacks the instincts to protect the organization. What Patel is, instead, is an honest man who believes in the Constitution and who completely understands how the government works and where the bodies are buried:

It’s those buried bodies, of course, that terrify all the people who should be terrified:

While Kash is not the hammer of God, he’s most certainly an instrument of justice. One of the things that must be most terrifying to congresscritters and other Deep Staters is Kash’s promise to release the Epstein and Diddy files:

I’d advise all 100 senators to confirm Kash’s appointment. Otherwise, rightly or wrongly, people are going to assume that their refusal to confirm him is because their names show up in those lists. In other words, Kash isn’t just an awesome practical choice; he’s also a litmus test of our senators’ moral courage and clear consciences.