A former FBI special agent is weighing Trump’s choice to lead the law enforcement agency where she once served, proposing some concrete steps she says will help regain the trust of all Americans.
“In recent years, the FBI has become politically and socially weaponized. This must end,” former FBI agent and Fox News contributor Nicole Parker told Fox News Digital. “Those responsible for the destruction of the agency must be held accountable, with tangible consequences.”
Newly elected President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he plans to do so nominate Kashyap “Kash” Patel replacing FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump nominated in 2017 during his first term.
“I am proud to announce that Kashyap “Kash” Patel will serve as the next director of the Federal Bureau of InvestigationTrump wrote on Truth Social. “Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator and America First fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending justice and protecting the American people.”
Kash Patel speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images/File)
Wray currently has a 10-year appointment that began in 2017. He can resign or be fired.
In his post, Trump wrote that Patel “played a critical role in exposing the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax, as an advocate for the truth. accountability, and the Constitution.”
“It is imperative that the new FBI director transforms the bureau into an agency that Americans can trust, rely on for impartial law enforcement, and protect them while upholding the Constitution,” Parker said. “The FBI must return to its true mission: fighting crime, keeping communities safe and being the agency that solid agents can once again be proud to work for.”
Parker added that the new FBI director must overhaul the bureau’s culture.
“When I was an FBI Special Agent, they always drilled into us the mantra ‘Needs of the Bureau,’ which I strongly challenged. It shouldn’t be the needs of the agency, it should be the needs of the American people. I was a special agent of the FBI, my salary came from the taxpayers. They were the ones I swore to protect. They were my boss,” Parker said.
TRUMP NOMINATES KASH PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR: ‘LAWYER FOR THE TRUTH’
Nicole Parker, a former FBI special agent, said she still feels guilty about the tips field offices receive (Fox News)
Parker said it is time for honor to be restored to the agency and that the FBI must raise hiring standards.
“The FBI director should inspire the confidence of the American people and the law enforcement officers sworn to protect our great nation,” Parker said.
She then listed a number of concrete actions she would like to see.
“ODI (Office of Diversity and Inclusion) needs to be reassessed because anything short of law enforcement responsibilities is a dangerous distraction. The FBI’s headquarters should be significantly downsized and agents sent back to field offices to fight crime. to raise their hiring standards and hire only the best and brightest, based solely on meritocracy,” Parker continued.
Kash Patel and newly elected President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
The FBI declined to comment on Parker’s comments, but issued a statement to Fox News Digital about the agency’s work to continue protecting Americans.
“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing range of threats. Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with, and the people we do it with. the work for,” the statement said.
JOHN BOLTON COMPARES KASH PATEL TO STALIN’S JUDGE AFTER TRUMP’S FBI NOMINATION
Current FBI Director Christopher Wray, left, currently serves a 10-year appointment that began in 2017. Wray will either have to be fired or resign before Patel, right, can take over. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Patel has pledged to restore the FBI’s integrity if confirmed.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to be nominated by President Trump as Director of the FBI,” Patel said in a statement. “Together, we will restore integrity, accountability and equal justice to our justice system and return the FBI to its rightful mission: protecting the American people.”
Patel, 44, is a former national security official who advised the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense during Trump’s first administration.
Before joining the first Trump administration, Patel served as national security adviser and senior adviser to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, where he reported to committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. In that role, he helped oversee the House of Representatives investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and exposed unlawful surveillance of the Trump campaign by the FBI and DOJ.
Patel published a book last year called “Government Gangsters,” in which he railed against the “deep state,” the arming of the federal government and the Russia investigation into Trump.
In his book, Patel explicitly called for a revamp of the FBI in a chapter entitled “Overhauling the FBI,” in which he minces no words about the state of the law enforcement agency.
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“Business is bad. That cannot be denied. The FBI has grossly abused its power and threatened not only the rule of law, but also the foundations of self-government that underlie our democracy. But this is not the end of the crisis. Change is possible at the FBI and desperately needed,” he wrote.
“The fact is that we need a federal agency to investigate federal crimes, and that agency will always be at risk of abuse of its powers,” he continued, calling for the firing of “corrupt actors” and “aggressive” oversight of Congress on the agency. , complete overhauls of special counsel, and relocating the FBI from Washington, DC
“Most importantly, we need to get the FBI out of Washington DC,” he wrote. “There is no reason to centralize the country’s law enforcement agency in the swamp. Keeping the FBI in its hulking headquarters in Washington only enables institutional capture and encourages senior leadership in the FBI to lose focus on their mission and learn to play ball. instead, playing political games, currying favor with politicians and cultivating relationships with the press to advance their careers.”
Emma Colton of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected].
