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According to a source familiar with the matter, Kash Patel, the newly appointed FBI Director, intends to transfer one thousand staff that work in the FBI headquarters to field offices across the nation while also relocating an additional five hundred to a bureau structure in Huntsville, Alabama. Patel disclosed this at his swearing-in ceremony at the White House on Friday, which explains how he means to embody his determination to lessen the FBI's presence in Washington D.C. Furthermore, it highlights his long term objective of increasing the staff footprint in several other cities,” suggests a source.
The plans were floated to senior officials on the same day that Patel was sworn in at the White House. The dive Patel aims to make into other offices across the country makes it clear that he intends to decrease the FBI’s presence in the country’s capital significantly.
An anonymous source discussed the plans stating fourteen days after they were made public to reinforce the fact that the coverage Patel is aimed at is unprecedented to say the least.
Quote-attributed statements by Patel suggest he considered the opportunity to lead the FBI a life altering decision, “the greatest honor” as he calls it.
Patel’s confirmation in the Senate on Thursday brought the trust margin to 51-49 where two republican lawmakers voted against him.
"I believe he will go down as unmatched in that role," President Donald Trump said to the press on Friday before the White House swearing-in which was led by Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, during which Trump supporters in Congress, including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, were present.
Trump contended that “agents love this guy.”
Patel is set to take control of a disbanded FBI after the Justice Department recently removed a handful of senior officials and issued an unprecedented request of the identities of hundreds of FBI agents involved in the investigations that surrounded the Capitol riot on January 6th, 2021.
Alarm bells were set off by the Democrats with the mention of the appointment out of concern that Patel, a staunch defender for Trump, may take advantage of the FBI’s enforcement capacity to attack adversaries of the president. They have pointed out his past remarks suggesting that he wants to “come after” any anti-Trump people in the government and media as bases for theiroint.
At the hearing, Patel sought to allay concerns by stating that he did not intend to seek vengeance and sought to follow the constitution. However, during his swearing, he claimed that journalists had published ‘fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory’ articles about him.
The republicans who are upset with the enforcement policies regarding conservatives during the Biden administration and the Trump criminal probes, have backed Patel. They believe he is the right person for the job.
Patel has expressed a desire to undertake “the most radical restructuring of the Bureau,” which includes an aggressive reduction of the Bureau's office space in Washington and restoring the Bureau's traditional crime fighting central focus, usurped in the last two decades by national security driven intelligence gathering.
He stated on Friday that the FBI's “national security mission” is just as vital as combating violent crime and drug-related deaths.
“Anyone wishing to harm our citizens here and abroad will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI,” Patel said. “We will put on the world’s largest man-hunt and find you in any corner of this country or planet.”
Patel worked as a Juscit Department’s counter terror prosecutor, and his appointment to replace Christopher Wray back in November was made by Trump himself, as his chosen candidate after Wray’s resignation had set in at the end of Biden’s rule.
They searched his Mar-a-lago estate in Florida in August 2022, in one of two federal investigations Trump was paraded in. Wray searching for classified documents inflamed Trump’s anger further and resulted in more than two indictments against him, all of which were nullified after he won the elections.
To prevent undue political influence, FBI directors are appointed for 10 year terms, so they don't become beholden to a particular administration. Trump notoriously fired James Comey, the appointed FBI director he inherited, hoping for light after three years of darkness. Wray was put in his place after Trump was boosted into power and placed seven years in ahead of him.
