patel has promised to do that believe him. it is a very serious path that trump is putting us on and it will lead to a significant diminution in our political, our social as well as our democratic processes here in the united states so beware, be very, very aware of what trump is doing and so in this case you know, obviously the check on the incoming president's power lies with the senate. >> this this is a senate confirmed position where just reminding everyone that the republicans will have a majority. but it's a small majority. and so they don't you know, they're still going to you still have to work to get people through a republican led senate as evidenced by matt gaetz dropping out from being nominated for attorney general after it became clear that was just not going to happen for him. obviously, congressman you are a democrat that serves in the house. so not a senate republican, but i am curious how you think that will go. if you think senate republicans will go for this. >> well let's be very much aware. the fbi can i

kash patel has that.experience with him, working directly with him, he was professional, dedicated, he was enthusiastic about the mission. and he was collaborative with the interagency, which is critical to getting operations done. if he was to demonstrate that kash patel that many fbi agents worked with a decade plus ago, i think it will be well received. i think the concern is this political theater and rhetoric and the idea he's going to come to fbi headquarters with a sledgehammer and tear the place down because, you know, i left the fbi just about a year ago and i have not seen the deep state that's been alluded to. i would actually say if i was to, you know, paint with broad brush strokes where the fbi leans politically, you know, for individuals, it's probably a little more to the right than anything. so, that's kind of an academic point, though. fbi agents and intelligence analysts and professionals, this he are career civil servants. i have just not seen this deep state issue that he's going in t

this is not what kash patel is suggesting. >> no, it's not what kash patel is suggesting.sh patel talks about the thaems of retribution, he is not only doing it on donald trump's behalf, but he is also talking about himself. we forget that kash patel has testified before two grand juries in each of the two trump federal investigations and in one them he was forced to testify under a court order because originally he had taken the fifth amendment. that's in the classified documents investigation surrounding the events at mar-a-lago. he only testified after a court found he would have what's called use immunity, the government would not be able to use his own testimony against him. that happened in november of 2022. kash patel has lived under the watchful eye of the fbi and convinced himself that that was done wrongfully to him. he knows exactly who to blame. it's as you said, not only the so-called deep staters, people that he thinks include bill barr and gina haspel, folks that we would not necessarily say are idealogically aligned with some of kash patel's other opponents

kash patel is a delusional liar.be very clear about that and he would lie about intelligence. he would lie about making things up on operations. i think mark esper has talked about that, as well where he put the lives of navy s.e.a.l.s at risk in nigeria. these were things that were happening in real time, when he was in the role as ct coordinator in the white house, and i know this because at some point i realized that i needed to double-check kash's work to make sure that i wasn't misinforming mike pence by relying on his word so i had to go around him and this is a guy who openly has contempt for people in national security, for people especially at doj and the fbi. he'd make open comments, i think there is a little bit of fear here from people where they know that someone like kash patel is fully capable of just doing partisan investigations, whatever it takes, it will be insane if he becomes the director of the fbi, and i fear for the law enforcement personnel there who are going to have to navigate this and qui

patel's adult book. that was for one of three of mr. patel's children's book. those books follow a wizard called kash who set out to save the king named trump. you can buy one of patel's covid reversal vaccine. or you could sign up for the right wing cell service he pushes which is really just a third party vendor for companies like at&t and team mobile. or you can buy a fight with kash branded t-shirt or a kash patel branded bottle of wine. those are all real things that donald trump's real life pick to run the fbi really sells. and on top of the griftiness and conspiracies and enemy's list. one of the things we have to worry about are his thoughts on the fbi itself. >> i would shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopen it the next day as the museum of the deep state. >> that was kash patel three months ago. not only does he think the fbi as it is currently run is nothing more than the quote unquote deep state. but when it comes to the biggest case the fbi has handled in the past four years, the prosecution of the january 6th attack on the capital

patel included.mire, again, we have talked about -- we talked about how republican senators pushed back on matt gaetz and if you talk to people close to donald trump, they will tell you they believe in pam bondi. they get somebody than matt gaetz. somebody who, again, said some concerning things, but also as florida's a.g. worked with democrats for eight years. you're now seeing it with pete hegseth who we talked about last hour. a lot of breaking news overnight of -- that, obviously, are going to have more republican senators concerned about that and here comes kash patel again. [ inaudible ] republican senators won't be deeply disturbed by for the reasons the "wall street journal" editorial page talks about, and he has promised to go after judges and to jail journalists. >> yeah. the problematic selections of rfk jr. and tulsi gabbard overshadowed because of all the attention given to pete hegseth and now kash patel where we have heard republicans, not just democrats, but some republicans, express

and that was kash patel but also missouri attorney general andrew bailey. now i was told that there were people close to donald trump who who knew that the president elect wanted kash patel in some big role, whether it was at the fbi in the doj. more broadly, the department of justice. more broadly, i should say, or in a national security role. however people were a bit concerned. there were some there was some uneasiness among some of those people close to donald trump about whether or not kash patel should get the director role or be a deputy director at the fbi, because there have been some concerns around the controversy around him, some of the past comments that he has made, including saying that he would want to seek retribution against donald trump's political opponents, but also concerns about what could be a very contentious senate confirmation battle. now, i'm told that donald trump, interviewed in person both bailey and kash patel at mar-a-lago in recent weeks, and that essentially trump walked away from it recognizing that he didn't he wasn't im

patel's adult book, that was for one of mr. patel's three children's books. his plot against the king theories. those books follow a wizard named kash who sets out to save a king named donald from characters like hillary quenton and kamalalala. they're still available for holiday books or you can buy one of his bogus covid vaccine supplements which undo the nefarious covid vaccines or you can sign up for one of his mobile services or you can buy the a fight with kash branded t-shirt or kash patel bottle of wine. it is a blue state cabernet but you won't taste it. those are all things that donald trump's real life pick to run the fbi really sells. on top of the giftiness and on top of the conspiracies and on top of the enemies list, one of the things we really have to worry about when it comes to kash patel are his thoughts on the fbi itself. >> i'd shut down the fbi whoever building on day one and re-opening the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> that was kash patel three months ago. not only does he think the fbi as it is currently run is nothing mor

he might have found that person in patel, if patel can be confirmed by the senate. patel has been one of the most controversial figures in trump's orbit for years. he promoted the baseless claims that trump won the 2020 election as well as other conspiracy they'res. patel has held several administration posts during trump's first term in office. this is want the first time he has proposed putting patel in a top position at the fbi. he promoted making patel deputy fbi director. barr objected, later writing he told mark meadows he would only allow that to happen, quote, over my dead body, end quote. and wrote, quote, patel had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve as the highest level of the law enforcement agency, end quote. he tried to install patel as deputy fbi assistant, and gina haspel threatened to resign over the matter. patel has been a critic of the federal law enforcement agencies. am his own memoir titled "government gangsters," he wrote about cleaning house in the justice department and fbi. he openly threated to prosecute members of tho

the same could be true of patel.aven't heard one phrase the senators are skeptical are using but there are valid questions. if that gets to a confirmation hearing, that will be a confirmation hearing. the clips you could play, that's when things get difficult. it's not just washington knowing what he has said in the past but it's televised. >> all these hearings are televised. we're talking, the way this works is it used to be that people would say i oppose this nomination for this nomination and there's a collegiality. a lot of these conversations happened behind the scenes because of trump. people don't want to be the target. what are these conversations like right now about people like pete hegseth or kash patel? is it, how are we going to make clear they don't have a path forward or was it like right now? >> first of all, there is a lot of behavioral science to this on one side. on the other side there's just quiet diplomacy. on the behavioral science part, one of the things that is coursing through the senate is

kash patel, i'm not sure about that. it is important to understand how a guy like that arrived that point. and his journey to trump world began on the house intelligence committee in in ways. where he worked for devin nunes. well patel started working for him at the height of the russia investigation and that work revolved around attempting to undercut and discredit that investigation in any way that he could. kash patel was so proud of the job that he did, that he even wrote a children's book about it. >> we living in unparalleled times of corruption in our media and government. it is our job to expose the truth no matter what the cost. my name is kash patel and i written the first ever children's russia-gate book. it is called "the plot against the king", it is a telling by me, the chief investigator of how we triumphed of truth over evil. please go to the link below and order your copy today. >> the first ever children's russia gate book. what a demand. there is still time for holiday shopping time, get out there toda

all of them really weighing in, defending donald trump's selection of patel. and then we also heard a number of top republican senators, those close to trump this morning on the sunday shows defending him as well. take a listen donald trump campaigned on reforming the fbi and the department of justice. >> so i don't know why any of this is frankly surprising to people. >> there are serious problems that the fbi, the american public, knows it. they expect to see sweeping change in kash patel is just the type of person to do it. i got to say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the fbi and clean out the corrupted partizans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the fbi. >> i think kash patel is going to be confirmed by the senate so, jessica there you have, you know, mike lawler ted cruz, bill hagerty, all kind of echoing what donald trump has been saying behind closed doors, which is that he really wants someone in this

are you surprised patel is the final choice?people are a little bit surprised about that pick. again, with what we saw with the matt gaetz pick is that when it was reported and when they got the pushback, he ended up dropping out. they subbed in pam bondi who at least has a precedent for this. none of this is a fait accompli. these republican senators can push back. they can say -- they can quietly say, you don't have the votes for this. remember, they told the trump -- incoming trump admin there were 20 to 30 senators who would vote against matt gaetz. i do think these republican senators have more power than they think. whether or not they will use it, we don't know. >> and yet, i want to play my colleague kristen welker on "meet the press" talking with a senator about trump's pick for director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard, meetings she had with al assad. >> i'm not familiar with the meetings she's had. i don't have to agree with every point of every one of president trump's nominees. i'm here to support them. my un

my next guest has covered patel extensively and says patel would do anything for trump. plus, trump moments ago, warning that there will be all hell to pay if hostages held by hamas are not released before he takes office. in january. the latest from that region coming up who should be the cnn hero of the year? >> visit cnn heroes dot com. >> do your dry eyes still feel gritty rough or tired with my bow eyes can feel my bow, yeah, my bow is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye too much tear evaporation for relief. that's my bow. >> oh yeah. >> remove contact lenses before using my bow. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in i redness and blurred vision may occur. what does treating dry eye differently feel like? i bow bow yeah for relief that feels i go ask your eye doctor about prescription. >> my bow you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean. not spreadsheets. you need to hire. >> i need indeed indeed you do. >> our matching platform lets you spend less time searching and more

they expect to see sweeping change and kash patel is just the person to do it. >> kash patel has more experience than just about anybody coming into the this position. >> i think kash patel is a very strong nominee to take on the partisan corruption in the fbi. >> the announcement marks the culmination of a year's long campaign patel launched against the fbi then under the leadership of christopher wray. early in wray's term, patel began climbing the maga ladder to nunez. in 2018, patel was reportedly involved in drafting a new memo intended to counter the russia investigation. after that memo landed with a thud, patel continued to rise in trump world by pushing conspiracy theories about a so-called deep state he claimed was deeply rooted in the fbi and when trump left office, patel wrote a book that called for ousting the fbi's top ranks and prosecuting anyone who quote abused their authority for political ends. trump, for his part, praised the book calling it quote, a roadmap to ending the deep state's reign. now in the past year, patel has stepped up his extreme rhetoric, making it

but patel is, and i think tim is absolutely right, when it comes to the danger to our democracy patelus as it gets. he believes in nothing except serving donald trump, his own interests. they really don't care about the interest of the united states, they are there to build an authoritarian cadre and to put themselves beyond the reach of the rule of law. and if you want to be beyond the reach of the rule of law, one of the first things you want to capture is the fbi. the other thing this says, putting patel there, it says the fbi is no longer in the law enforcement business and is certainly no longer in the counterintelligence business, which our enemies will be very happy to hear. it's in the business of protecting donald trump, furthering donald trump's interests, and making sure that donald trump's enemies are investigated and that donald trump's friends are given a free pass. this is really, you know, i suppose if we still had the ability to be shocked, it is shocking. but i think this is something probably many of us are coming and it should not be that surprising. but it is incr

kash patel is right up their alley. the media, should america be about the selection in your estimation? >> i think they aught to be very concerned. we aught to take kash patel at his word. this may be an olive branch, but it's a huge middle finger to the fbi, to the department of justice, and frankly, to the u.s. supreme court. as i wrote over the weekend, you know, trump seems to be under the impression that the court will not be a work against his attacks against the rule of law. so, you know, good work, john roberts. but a lot of euphemisms that have been used to describe kash patel as a loyalist. but make no mistake about it, this man is a zealous extremist, he is deeply unserious choice for fbi. that makes him no less dangerous. this is somebody who will never say no to donald trump. and you know, has made it very clear that he would dismantel many of the norms within that organization. i expect significant pushback against kash patel in the u.s. senate. >> let's get into that, charlie, do we think they will be en

patel or potentially director patel would have, would be to the president and not the united states. i'm not saying that was that's it. i would hope that's not the case. but the fbi does need to be reformed. there, there. you know we saw through jim strzok and those and those episodes where people were actively discussing on fbi cases how they could remove a candidate. so i mean, there are some issues and it doesn't help when you know, all this narrative that the president has been putting out, that the president elect has been putting out there for the past months of the campaign, was just in the minds of his of his voters. validated, you know that it is a criminal group. these people will think because he pardoned his son for things he hadn't even been prosecuted for. so, yeah i think the pardon comes at a horrible time so and i think that go ahead. >> yeah so i think that's i think that's what's happening that that you might have an emboldened patel move in as soon as they see what's happened in the last few days. all right, steve moore, thanks for providing your insights on what'

but patel's record tells a different story. last year patel pledged to quote go out and find the conspirators , not just in government, but in the media, accusing them of helping joe biden rigged the presidential election. he has a record of pushing trump my in conspiracy theories and even promoted an anti- vaccine diet supplement. claiming they could reverse the effects of covid-19 vaccines. patel has little experience for the role, and apparently in exaggerating his qualifications, he once claimed to be the lead prosecutor in a federal case against a libyan tied to the 2012 ben ghazi attacks. but the justice department records do not list him as a lead or even as part of the team. in a 2016 case involving a palestinian refugee who pleaded guilty to supporting isis, a federal judge removed patel from the courtroom. the judge called his presence unnecessary and criticized him for his lack of professionalism and inappropriate attire. when trump entertained naming patel as deputy director of the fbi during his last presidency, fo

bolton writes, "patel's conduct in mr.mp's first term and thereafter indicates that as fbi director, he would operate according to laurenti burrell is reported commitment to joseph stalin could show me the man and i will show you the crime." that is pretty chilling, i would have to say, for someone who is kash patel's boss, and yet, not a single republican senator has raised any significant public concern about patel's nomination. now, maybe that will come in the hearings, maybe it will be quiet, but it is still an eye- opener with discussing. as the new york times put it this week, patel appears at least for now to be on a glide path for nomination, we will see. but joining me now is tim weiner, a pulitzer prize- winning journalist and leading expert on the fbi, as well as the cia, and he is the award- winning author of two best- selling books on those agencies. tim, perfect christmas gifts for people who are looking to better understand some very important agencies in the next years to come. i wanted to ask you, you said

now the question is kash patel. you have the senate judiciary chair, who was just re-elected at the ripe old age of, i want to say 86, he wrote to christopher wray, for the good of the country it is time for you and your deputy to move on, clearly trying to essentially soften the ground for this kash patel thing. you have others saying that they think patel is confirmable. it seems insane to me that he would be confirmed given the fact that he has explicitly and repeatedly vowed to use the bureau as an instrument of prosecuting people for protected speech. what do you think about this confirmation chance? >> he seems confirmable only when compared to tulsi gabbard and others who we have talked about, hegseth who are even more unqualified. although it is a tough bar to surmount. i think that once attention turns to kash patel and people review his past statements, i take his word that he would go after the press and pursue a housecleaning and use the fbi to silence, dissent and protest. in effect he would politicize

the kash patel is new. or nomination.t's not open. >> there's a reason it's a 10 year term. what are you hearing about kash patel and how they're feeling about it. >> i think it's how they reacted around matt gaetz. the entirety of this nomination process is setting a realtime litmus test to how trump will get republicans to rubber stamp. for matt gaetz the word we kept hearing, i will give him a fair confirmation process and everybody deserves to have a meeting. that was the private confirmation, we'll do the meetings, we'll do the vettings but at the end we're going to vote no. and that is what caused gaetz to step away. that is going to be a hell of a confirmation hearing because i think the clips you can play that's when things get really difficult. it's not just what washington knowing what he said in the past, but it's fully televised. >> that is true. all these hearings are televised. we're just talking about how the way this works it used to be that people would just come out and say i support this nomination or o

what is going on with kash patel? are you hearing different tunes privately or is that what people telling you? >> it seems he's resonating with senate republicans and could be confirmed as fbi director. it depends on what happens with christopher wray. he is currently serving a 10 year role as fbi director and he would have to resign or trump would have to fire him for patel to replace him. it does seem he is resonating with the senators that need to support him to be confirmed. we are seeing that would not only kash patel and also with pam bondi. it is interesting to see after what happened with matt gaetz, the senators are coming around. matt gaetz was a personal thing and this seems to be different and discussions seem to be going well. >> there's lots of nominees nobody is talking about that will be confirmed. marco rubio, others will get confirmed and they're not necessarily controversial in that way. i don't understand the kash patel because he is a qanon advocate and has an enemies list in his book. why is thi

bolton writes patel's conduct in mr.st term and thereafter indicates as fbi director he would operate according to reported comments to stalin. show me the man and i'll show you the crime. that's pretty chilling i would have to say for someone who is kash patel's boss. and yet not a single republican senator has raised any significant public concern about patel's nomination. my last guest said maybe that will come in the hearings or be quiet, but it does -- is kind of an eye opener worth discussing. as "the new york times" put it patel appears to be on a glide path for confirmation. we'll see. joining me is tim weiner, a pulitzer journalist and leading expert on the fbi and the cia and he's the award-winning author of two best selling books on those agencies. perfect christmas gifts for people who are looking to better understand some very important agencies in the next years to come. i wanted to ask you, you said in an interview that kash patel would make the fbi an instrument of political repression. which is quite a d

patel is an ardent supporter of mr. trump and says the fbi is part of what he calls the deep state conspiracy against the president-elect and his allies. on social media last night, mr. trump said patel played a pivotal role in uncovering the "russia, russia, russi hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability and the constitution. the job requires senate confirmation. ryan reilly covers the justice department and federal law enforcement for nbc news. he's the author of "sedition hunters: how january sixth broke the justice system." ryan, tell us who kash patel is? what is background? what's his relationship to mr. trump? ryan yeah, so he started off as : a staffer with devon nunez, which is really what sort of got him into donald trump's orbit, and i think what he's most known for is being willing to do sort of whatever donald trump would like him to do. i think the difference between him and most folks in federal law enforcement and within the fbi is that within the fbi, you follow the facts where they lead

the question is because he's got kash patel has that loyalty in spades. that's basically all he has to bring to the fbi. the question is, what sort of fbi director will kash patel be for the fbi and for the united states? >> well, and looking at that, you know, trump wanted to fire wray at the end of his last term, bill barr threatened to quit if he did so. he ultimately did not. but but when you look at this and what an fbi would look like with kash patel, what does that look like for people who are curious about this? >> you know, it's a great question because cash's background and his qualifications are aren't anywhere close to any preceding fbi director. right. >> take out, take out what he said about the media and the deep state, which all are important. we're not ignoring that. but if you were ignoring all of that and just looking at his qualifications, would you feel comfortable with him running the fbi? >> absolutely not. i mean, he can't he's not even he doesn't have half of the leadership experience. the law enforcement experience, the legal car

kash patel is mr. clean up. he's a brilliant guy, vast experience in law, national security and fighting cry. he'll come into the fbi to cleanse the agency. to clear out all of the deadwood. because right now the fbi is ought in the throes of the greatest corruption scandal since jay edgar hoover, and this must be stopped, must be ended, and the president trump knows this. he knows it well. kash patel is exactly the guy toy do it. now, take a listen to this tape from our show, what, two weeks ago. take a listen, please. >> the worst weapon we have in government is a two-tiered system of justice that's been weaponnized. i think it's time that donald trump came in there with sweeping mandate that the american public gave him to return a singular system of constitution of justice. there's no revenge list. if donald trump is successful, he will make these institutions the fbi, doj, dod, et cetera, successful forever. larry: hear that importantly. okay. hear that, no revenge. kash patel famously uncovered russia, rus

he says he looks forward to the nomination of kash patel.s country for many, many years. the fbi did not illegally raid donald trump's home at mar-a-lago. they did not do it without cause. what they found there were highly classified documents that were in an unsecured area. he was not illegally impeached and indicted. that he was indicted through the system that is enshrined in this country. and in fact, in one case was found guilty of 34 counts, but donald trump saying he is happy to see christopher wray is gone. that is our breaking news. that's going to do it for this hour, but katy tur will pick up the coverage right after a short break. p the coverage right after a short break. it's shrimp your way. choose 3 flavors for $20*, like crispy dragon shrimp. . with dexcom g7, managing your diabetes just got easier. so, what's your glucose number right now? good thing you don't need to fingerstick. how's all that food affect your glucose? oh, the answers on your phone. what if you're heading low at night? [phone beeps] wow, it can alert you?!

so-called suspendable's, working pretty closely with kash patel. there is contingent within the fbi, people not happy with the way things are going and supportive of donald trump in general and supportive of major reforms. you have a group of individuals outside the bureau, former fbi, special agents that really want to fbi busted up and shattered in a lot of ways. >> ryan reilly, thank you very much. >>> richard blumenthal serves on the judiciary committee and joins me now. your reaction to the fbi director's announcement. >> this resignation is a result of political pressure, it is anti-pedicle to what the fbi should be doing and what the 10 year term was meant to do, insulated from this kind of political pressure. i will say, i would have compelled donald trump to fire me, i would have stayed and spoken up, there is a lesson in the rise of tyranny in europe during the 20th century. a great scholar, tim snyder alejo issued a number of lessons, one of which, the first of which, do not obey in advance most of the power of authoritarianism is given

patel is a highly divisive figure. he's accused the so-called deep state of targeting trump and proposed a quote, comprehensive housecleaning end quote, of the justice department saying that under trump, it would go after members of the media. in his memoir, former attorney general bill barr said he had tried to block a move to install patel as deputy fbi director during trump's first term. barr said that he'd allow it, quote, over my dead body. and multiple sources familiar with the trump transition process had previously told cnn that patel's rise is deeply concerning. it's not clear that patel could be confirmed by the senate, but his pick is another sign that trump plans to follow through on his promises to disrupt washington joining me now is white house national security adviser jake sullivan. sir thanks very much for being on the program we have so much to get to today. but since you are such a key national security official, i do want to ask you about president elect trump's decision to nominate kash patel as f

the idea as patel as deputy fbi director.ttorney general at the time bill barr rejected the idea. later writing this in his memoir, quote, patel had virtually no experience that would allow him to serve at the highest level of the preeminent law enforcement agency. how serious do you take barr's warning? warning? >> i think you should have the biden administration look at itself. tony blinken put together a fake letter saying that the hunter biden laptop was russian disinformation. that must have qualified him to be secretary of state. president trump is entitled to name his appointees and that is exactly what he's doing and i will support it. kash has worked at national security. he's worked in the department of justice and he's someone who has been willing to uncover the wrongs at the fbi, he uncovered for the american public what happened in russia gate. >> senator, you are disregarding what bill barr, the former attorney general under donald trump is saying. his warnings that he just doesn't have the experience. >> i'm sa

talk to us a little bit more about who kash patel is. >> well, kash patel has become very, very vocal, very influential in trump's circle. and he first got to the attention of of the former president back when he helped lead an investigation of the russia investigation. he's the one who came up with some of the talking points, frankly, that that fueled what trump has been saying about that earlier investigation. and he ended up working positions at the national security council eventually working at the defense department but one of the things that really has gotten trump's attention is the fact that he has been prone to using some of the inflammatory language that trump, frankly approves of, right. he says that he wants to find conspirators who were behind the rigged 2020 election. he's played a role for instance, in the classified documents case where he was he fought a subpoena from jack smith and eventually got a grant of limited immunity in order to provide some testimony and we also know that back in before trump left office in in 2020, 2021, trump tried to install him at the fb

patel says that the u.s.has permission now, it turns out that the united states did not have permission. and esper says and i quote him, by the time mike pompeo and i spoke an hour later he still didn't have the okay from the remaining country. he also did not know where patel received his information pompeo never spoke with him. how do we receive the bad information in the first place? pompeo wondered esper said his team suspected patel may be approval story up, but they didn't have all the facts. um, what concerns you the most when you hear a story like this obviously it appears from what esper is saying that the no one ever understood exactly what happened. but but what would be the implications if someone were willing to make information like that up and convey it to the defense secretary you know, aaron, i wasn't involved in that situation, but i have been deeply involved in many operations that involve sending fbi personnel and other u.s. >> agency personnel into foreign countries, hostile conditions fo

kash patel has written books. he says - and through. kash patel has written books.bi has become so drastically compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken. he's also written a children's book called the plot against the king, depecting so—called deep—state enemies trying to steal king trump's crown. i mean does this tell us anything about the kind of policies he could advocate for? yeah, look, i mean i think he will do — a — whatever trump really wants him to do with respect to using the fbi to go after enemies, real or perceived. i think certainly kash patel will be a big proponent of going afterjack smith's team for instance. you know, that has been a big priority for trump to seek retribution. he promised on the campaign trailand i retribution. he promised on the campaign trail and i don't think anyone should think that he wasjoking. he really think anyone should think that he was joking. he really did feel like he was being persecuted byjack feel like he was being persecuted by jack smith, feel like he was being perse

i saw kash patel, i saw pete hegseth. it's basically swarming up here with these cabinet hopefuls, meeting with senators, trying to talk to them, convince skeptical ones that that they should vote for them. congressman, i just wonder how you view, you know, pete hegseth situation right now. he met with todd young tonight, a senator from indiana for over an hour. todd young came out of that and said he wasn't ready to to say yes. he is going to back him. do you think he still has got a few obstacles ahead of him? >> i have real concerns. i mean, given the police report and the allegations. now, obviously he's innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn't mean that you make him the head of the defense department. what message is that sending to young girls and young men across america? i do want to say one thing about the fbi that i hope doesn't get lost. there may be issues about the political investigation. that's not 99% of what the fbi does. there are honest, hard working agents who put their lives at stake every day t

you had a personal substantive constant interaction with kash patel tell america about kash patel ifou mark it's great to be back on with you. i'm glad you're doing so well. when you see people attacking you, that means you are right over the target and that is why they're going after kash patel. you may remember it not a lot people talk about this in the media but he was a d.o.j. prosecutor before he came to work for the united states congress. we recruited him away from the department of justice because we needed someone that knew how d.o.j. and fbi with they were doing to create the whole russia hoax and of course as our lead investigator we uncovered something no one thought was even a possum on the biggest hoaxes in american history, kash patel was at the heart of that. and he paid a heavy price he paid a personal price and a lot of people do not realize this, but when we investigated d.o.j. and fbi at the time for their involvement in the russia hoax what did they do? they turned and got subpoenas secretly against kash patel. against a lot of my former staff including senator g

so who is kash patel? a 44-year-old lawyer who worked for a few years in the doj at the aral prosecutor on counterterrorism. according to reporting, he left doj aggrieved and frustrated after that he went to work for congressman nunez on the house permanent select committee on intel, this was back in 2017 and newness had him focus on the fbi's justification for the russia investigation and the origins of the steel dossier where again, according to the atlanta, he started to believe in the conspiracy donald trump was calling the deep state. from there, he left to donald trump's national security council in the white house and developed a reputation for intense, some would say dangerous, devotion to donald trump. so worrying, that high-ranking officials in donald trump's first administration threatened to resign when trump try to promote him into the upper echelons of the intelligence community. today, without the quote, adult in the room from the last administration, trump is trying to promote him again, th

well kash patel produced that song. that is the man donald trump wants to run the fbi. >> do you want kash patel to launch investigations into people on that list? >> no. i mean, he will do what he thinks is right. >> do you think that is right, sir? >> um. if they think that somebody was dishonest or crooked or corrupt politician, i think he probably has an obligation to do it. >> are you going to direct him to do it? >> not at all. >> is it your expectation that kash patel will pursue investigations against your political enemy ins. >> i don't think so. >> do you want to see that happen? >> if they were crooked and did something wrong, broken the law, probably. they went after me and i did nothing wrong. >> joining me now is one of the senators who will sit on the judiciary committee. senator, thank you for being here. my goodness. can i first get your thoughts, senator klobuchar for the choice by fbi director wray to step down in advance, there is a lot of human cry about whether that is conceding to or ohm boldingen

the left is freaking out over his decision to replace fbi director chris ray with kash patel. >> patel is a maga loyalist lacking serious experience in federal law enforcement. but then why should that stop him? he's obsessed with the so-called deep state that doesn't even exist. the kash patel one an agent of the president elect's retribution agenda. >> presidents don't do this coming in because of the fact that the fbi is supposed to be apolitical. start investigations simply to sort of whitewash trump's involvement with insightment illegalities. what will weaponize the fbi. >> but in case you forgot here's a reminder of everything that's happened since trump left office. now just hours ago, we learned more about just how petty attorney general america garland is that he would sending federal agents into the home of a former president likely 2024 candidate over a document dispute. >> the 45th president of the united states deleting 2024 candidate donald j. trump has now been indicted by joe biden's department of justice. >> outrage pouring in after metaceo revealing pressured company

so, zach tell us what kind of impact patel would have on the fbi if confirmed. >> yeah, manu kash patel has certainly shown he knows how to talk the talk. as far as saying all the things trump would want to hear from a prospective fbi director nominee. and look, that includes things like pledging to turn the fbi headquarters into a, quote, museum of the deep state on day one. in the job, he's also promised to come after trump's political enemies, both in the government and in the media. and so loyalty is really kash patel number one qualification. and the reason behind the overwhelming reason behind trump's decision to announce that he wants to install him as the fbi director and what form or fashion that could take remains to be seen. but as you said, kash patel is not just a controversial figure outside of trump's orbit, but some of those people close to him have privately raised questions not only about kash patel stated views and the way that he wants to run the fbi, but also about his competency questioning if he actually is capable of carrying out the kind of sweeping changes that

and that's why i think kash patel is going to bring. and you notice, as you said in the introduction, republicans are very bullish about kash patel and they're very optimistic about him getting through this process. >> meeting with today. >> so he has a whole range of folks today, as you said, senator cornyn. but he has some other meetings. he'll be on the hill most of the week. and we have a number of the different nominees who are actually on the hill this week continuing meetings. in the case of pete hegseth are starting meetings themselves including tulsi gabbard. >> yeah, we're going to talk about all of that. i want to just focus a little bit more on kash patel. as you know, he has made some controversial comments. he's laid out a list of 60 political enemies in his book, who he calls, quote, members of the executive branch, deep state trump made it clear in his nbc interview that he wants to give wide latitude to his picks like patel. if he's confirmed to lead the fbi. does patel plan to act on that list? if he's confirmed? >> we

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it interviewed kash patel during the course of its work. do you remember anything about that meeting? can you talk about it at all? was what were kind of your thoughts about that? >> well, look, a lot of that blends together now. i mean so i don't know exactly what came out of that, that i can't, you know, get it off the top of my head. but, yeah, i mean, look, he was clearly hostile. clearly did not want to be sitting in front of the january 6th committee and clearly took a side. and that's the point. look, if you're going to be the head of the fbi and you're talking about things like, let's get to the bottom of january 6th, for instance, you actually think that this would be a normal fbi director would say, let's just get the answers let's figure out what happened and follow the crime if there is one. but when you already have your, your, your decision set because of your political preference, boy, that just bodes really poorly. and look again he donald trump was not quiet about what he intended to do. i just think america is getting read

and it's really good for kash patel because this makes the argument that trump and patel have been making department and the democrats have been screaming about donald trump, and it just turns it around on on takes away the argument from democrats. so it's really disappointing to me and i think a, you know, a bad day for politics, a bad day for the country. >> peter baker put it this way, kind of underscoring what you, what you're saying here quote mr. biden's pardon will make it harder for democrats to defend the integrity of the justice department and stand against mr. trump's unapologetic plans to use it for political purposes, even as he seeks to install kash patel, an adviser who has vowed to come after the president elect's enemies as the next director of the fbi. it will also be harder for democrats to criticize mr. trump for his prolific use of the pardon power to absolve friends and allies. some of whom could have been witnesses against him in previous investigations. i can democrats now plausibly be out there saying arguing that the department of justice has been fair and evenha

i believe they want kash patel.d.c., and new york who don't want kash patel, why? that is where the politicization of the fbi and department offo justice occurred not only the last eight years, mark, butk really goes back 20 years.er if you remember scooter libby in that fiasco. they were retargeting g otrepublicans way back man and they got away with it and it got worse and worse and worse. that is why they are afraid of n somebody like kash patel who is not a new york d.c. insider whon actually t just wants to get inn their back and do the job is why they are resisting him. i will tell you, i have talked to senators that didn't know kash and i think he will get overwhelming support from republicans and the senate.we >> we want to roll call forhe pete hegseth and others so we, the people can can make a determination how to conduct ourselves 100% sure. like you, i worked with many former fbi senior officials attorney -- a man and woman arey disgusted what happened with the fbi specially obama/biden. mike and they wa

patel, as we know, is very very controversial. a conspiracy theorist who's vowed to actually dismantle the fbi and go after journalists who wrote critical articles let's say, of trump. what are you hearing about this pick? >> i think this pick is extremely controversial i am not sure that it's going to face the same pushback as other controversial picks, because we have so many controversial picks, we have tulsi gabbard, we had pete pete hegseth, we have so many people right now who are going to face a lot of scrutiny. but kash patel let me just lay it down there is someone who is frankly unqualified for this post and, you know, you can talk about the fbi and you can say it deserves to to be reconstituted they have overstepped the mark. but what kash patel is interested in doing is using the fbi for the purpose of going after trump's enemies. it's not protecting the american people. let's not forget the fbi does counterterrorism. it does many things in this country that are of vast importance. he is talking about really going afte

kash patel. patel is a trump loyalist.or shutting down the fbi's washington headquarters and firing its leaders. the president elect posted to social media, calling patel a brilliant lawyer, investigator and america first fighter. trump would need to fire current fbi director christopher wray, whom he appointed in 2017 after firing james comey. patel will then need to be confirmed by the senate. back here in the bay area, 18 kayakers are expected to be okay after being rescued from the frigid waters of the san francisco bay. the coast guard and brisbane harbor patrol rescued all 18 who were thankfully wearing life vests. among the victims, a fefew children. they were capsized by a wave near oyster point in south san francisco. the harbormaster says the group is part of a rowing club and were in a 14 foot long platform kayak when it was knocked over. happening today in san francisco's castro district, activists and community members will mark the 36th annual world aids day with colorful messages, and you're invited to take