Former Trump officials consider loyalist Kash Patel especially 'dangerous': report

26 August 2024

During his four years in the White House, Donald Trump clashed with a long list of conservative administration officials — from former National Security Adviser John Bolton to ex-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to ex-White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. Trump, in the end, even fell out with former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr.

Stephanie Grisham, who served as Trump's third White House press secretary, gave Vice President Kamala Harris an enthusiastic endorsement when she spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

But one Republican who had a reputation for being an unquestioning Trump loyalist is attorney Kash Patel.

In an article published on August 26, The Atlantic's Elaina Plott Calabro warns that the 44-year-old Patel is exactly the type of loyalist Trump would choose for his second administration. And she lays out some reasons why Patel's critics, including those on the right, find that prospect so disconcerting.

"Kash Patel was dangerous," Calabro writes. "On this, both Trump appointees and career officials could agree. When Patel was installed as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense just after the 2020 election, Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised him not to break the law in order to keep President Donald Trump in power…. When Trump entertained naming Patel deputy director of the FBI, Attorney General Bill Barr confronted the White House chief of staff and said, 'Over my dead body.'"

Calabro adds, "When, in the final weeks of the administration, Trump planned to name Patel deputy director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, the agency's head, threatened to resign."

Patel's critics, according to Calabro, "appeared singularly focused on pleasing Trump."

"What wouldn’t a person like that do, if asked?" Calabro argues. "Most Americans had no idea Patel existed, yet rarely a day passed when administration leaders weren't reminded that he did…. Patel was ultimately denied a role at the pinnacle of the national-security establishment, but Trump has promised to learn from his mistakes. Should he return to the White House, there will be no Milleys, Haspels, or even Barrs to restrain him as he seeks revenge against his political enemies."

Calabro adds, "Instead, there will be Patels — those whose true faith and allegiance belong not to a nation, but to one man. 'Get ready, Kash,' Trump said before a gala of young Republicans this past December. 'Get ready.'"

Read Elaine Plott Calabro's full article for The Atlantic at this link (subscription required).

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