FIRST ON FOX: Ahead of his swearing-in as FBI director on Friday, Kash Patel laid out his top priorities for the agency in a letter to subordinates obtained by Fox News Digital, vowing to bolster the bureau’s resources and “rebuild the American people’s trust in the FBI.”
“I am honored to have been nominated and confirmed as your new Director,” Patel wrote to colleagues. “While I’m new to the Bureau’s ranks, I’ve spent my career in government service and the past decade in national security, working shoulder to shoulder with the FBI and many of its partners throughout the law enforcement and intelligence communities. My commitment has always been — and always will be — to pursuing justice and upholding the rule of law, and I look forward to continuing that commitment alongside all of you.”
Patel also reiterated that keeping Americans safe, both at home and abroad, is a “no-fail mission” that the FBI must continue to support in the coming months.
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Kash Patel is sworn in during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to be FBI director, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The letter continued, “As I take on this new role, my priorities for our organization are twofold. First is to provide you with the tools and resources you need to keep our communities safe. This will include streamlining our operations at Headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation and collaborating even more closely with our essential partners in state and local law enforcement.
“Second is to ensure we rebuild the American people’s trust in the FBI. We’ll do that by committing ourselves to full transparency with the people’s representatives in Congress and by upholding the highest standards in all that we do, ensuring rigorous obedience to the Constitution and a single standard of justice for all.”
“I know that you, the dedicated men and women of the FBI, are courageous warriors of justice,” he wrote. “I will always have your backs, because you have the backs of the American people. I look forward to serving with you in the years to come.”
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Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Patel – nominated by President Donald Trump – was confirmed as the ninth FBI director in a narrow Senate vote on Thursday, succeeding former Director Christopher Wray. He is set to be sworn in on Friday afternoon.
During the first Trump administration, Patel worked as a deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism. He played a key part in missions to take down high-ranking al Qaeda and ISIS leaders, including planning the operation that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in these positions. Patel also contributed to efforts to capture some of the most-wanted terrorists and bring them to the U.S. for prosecution.
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Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, arrives for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Patel was the principal deputy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where he helped with the transition of leadership between acting DNI Ric Grenell and John Ratcliffe prior to his role as deputy to Trump and on the National Security Council.
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He also focused on intelligence related to counter-narcotics and transnational threats. Prior to ODNI, Patel served as national security advisor and senior counsel for counterterrorism on the House Intelligence Committee. There, he led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, exposing FISA abuse and illegal surveillance of Americans, including Trump campaign members.
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
