'Horrible abuses': Former FBI agent sounds the alarm on Kash Patel
When President Donald Trump nominated Christopher Wray for FBI director in July 2017 after firing James Comey from that position, Wray enjoyed strong bipartisan support and was confirmed in a 92-5 vote. Only a handful of Democrats voted against Wrap.
But on Thursday, February 20, 2025, not one Democrat voted in favor of making far-right Trump loyalist Kash Patel FBI director. Nonetheless, Patel was narrowly confirmed, with only two GOP senators — Alaska's Lisa Murkowski and Maine's Susan Collins — joining Democrats in voting against Patel.
Former FBI special agent Frank Figliuzzi and former CIA Director John O. Brennan discussed Patel's confirmation during a Saturday morning, February 22 appearance on MSNBC's "The Weekend." And they didn't mince words, laying out some reasons why they consider Patel a dangerous choice for FBI director.
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Figliuzzi, now 62, told MSNBC hosts Michael Steele (former chairman of the Republican National Committee), Alicia Menendez and Simone Sanders, "If somebody has told us who he is, has said he does have a blacklist, an enemies list…. he's doing what he said he would do."
Figliuzzi warned that Patel may be even more dangerous than the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who was infamous for spying on civil rights leaders.
"The real concern I have here: We've seen horrible abuses by the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover, right?" the former FBI special agent argued. "Illegal wiretaps, planting of evidence, microphones in Martin Luther King's rooms — you name it, we saw it. Unchecked. That could happen again, and it could be even worse with someone whose allegiance is to a president."
Menendez asked Brennan if he considers the U.S. "safer or less safe" with Patel now in charge of the FBI, and the former CIA director detailed his national security concerns — including those involving SpaceX/Tesla/X.com CEO Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)/
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Brennan told the MSNBC panel, "Well, I'm very concerned about the dislocations within the bureau that Frank was mentioning. When I was director of CIA, we partnered very, very, closely with the FBI on so many matters, including on the counterintelligence front. And what I'm concerned is right now with all of these individuals that Musk and DOGE have sent into our government institutions, and having access to those systems and networks and databases. This is something that is ripe for exploitation by the Russians and the Chinese in terms of intelligence."
The former CIA director added, "These are individuals who haven't been vetted. They don't have the security clearances or background. And so, they are now accessing all this information that involves U.S. citizens, sensitive U.S. databases and other things."
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