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Here's why the US Senate shouldn't give Kash Patel the time of day [1]

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Date: 2025-01-28

Yesterday I wrote a piece on being where you are, and then early this morning I found myself following my own recommendation. It was a personal moment of recognizing that I needed to do what I'd recommended to Daily Kos readers and not simply hey everyone, think about doing this but okay, maybe I won't.

I'd caught the Rachel Maddow show on YouTube around 5:30 am (I'm an early riser) rather than staying up to watch it at 9 pm on MSNBC. My house is pretty quiet at that early morning hour, with two doggos not even sure they are interested in getting up so early, and two cats with only one desire, that I feed them. I was drinking my coffee, a new one, a maple walnut flavored find on sale, and then I was brought up short by her presentation. I grabbed the tablet I keep next to my laptop in the kitchen and began to write down all the items and issues she was presenting, shotgun style, related to the newest iterations of let's wreck the government with executive orders and complicity, I felt almost instantly sick, with an accelerating heart rate, a churning stomach, and a reaction my mind almost couldn't keep up with. Deep breath. More deep breaths. Woke the doggos and took them outside. Breathed in fresh, cold air and watched as the sun prepared to rise.

Back in the house, I restarted the program and continued to write down all the "stuff" she was providing, but with a calmness imposed by having known I'd needed to walk away for 10 minutes or more. And this is what I decided--even as her chyron read "One Day at a Time." I knew it would be better for me to take it just one awful thing at a time---there were too many terrible things to deal with each day. So, the one I picked? My headline says it: here's why the US Senate shouldn't give Kash Patel the time of day.

There was information on him I had no previous knowledge about, stuff so bad that in prior administrations, if he'd even be given a nod, discovery of one or two of these facts would tank his nomination. First though, the various things most of us may already know about him.

1. Patel was Chief of Staff to the acting Secretary of Defense, Christopher Miller as well as senior advisor to acting director of national intelligence (DNI) Rick Grenell, both of these jobs during the first Trump presidency.

2. Trump had expressed a desire to name Patel Deputy Director of the FBI during his first term. To which, if you recall, Bill Barr, Attorney General of the US, reportedly said, "Over my dead body."

3. In November 2024, Trump, by then, President-elect, nominated Patel to succeed Christopher Wray as the head of the FBI.

4. After Trump lost in 2020, Patel wrote children's books. On in essence titled "King Donald." And in which he assailed Hilary Clinton and Joe Biden.

Now, here's the various stuff I didn't know, or had only heard snippets and had no confirmation of their veracity until I learned so much more about them on Rachel's show and then looked into the sourcing she provided.

John Bolton: Kash Patel Is Like a ‘Climbing Weed’ Who Doesn’t Know Limits of Job (clip) :: Grabien - The Multimedia Marketplace) According to John Bolton, who of course had served for almost 18 months as Trump's National Security Advisor, and I quote: "Patel is like a climbing weed." He was referring to the lies Patel routinely told about a staggering number of issues. (Here is the headline:

Some of those lies were in service of self-aggrandizement. Some of them were braggadocio on steroids. He has claimed, for example, that he had a very important role in the Benghazi hearings. And even that he was the lead prosecutor. Both of these are flat-out lies.

Kash Patel - Wikipedia .) Patel was involved in Ukraine issues--absent any expertise or even knowledge--this from Fiona Hill, (who served as an associate to John Bolton), and he had the ear of the president on the war with no understanding of it (but then, in fairness, this was the blind leading the blind). He'd also apparently been a back-door conduit between Rudy Giuliani, Lev Parnas and others involved in digging up dirt on Biden and attempting to control and convince Zelensky to help out. (The information contained here was reported in Politico and then included in a very long piece in Wikipedia--

A biggie though, and the one that should raise serious questions about his judgment, character (or actually lack thereof) and arrogance? I'm providing the actual account, this from the same Wikipedia article cited above. It's succinct and very clearly demonstrates who Patel is.

"In October of 2020, Patel provided incorrect information about permission from Nigeria for a U.S. hostage rescue in the African country. Despite Patel claiming the U.S. had clearance for the operation, the U.S. was not able to confirm clearance. According to the memoir, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times , by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Patel "made the approval story up". In the end, SEAL Team Six was still able to rescue Philip Walton who was being held hostage.

This lie could have gotten our Navy Seals killed or captured and tortured. No one who'd lie like this should ever get within 100 miles of the FBI or any other US agency.

There's more though.

From 2021 to 2023, Kash Patel made content for The Epoch Times , a news organization known for its far-right conspiracy theories, its association with a Chinese dissident religious group, and, since June, a sprawling multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme allegedly perpetrated by its CFO, Bill Guan. (See Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan charged in alleged $67 million global money laundering scheme)

Am I contending that Patel had anything to do with this money-laundering scheme? No. However, take one guess at which governmental entity is prosecuting both this CFO and his massive scheme? If you'd name The Southern District of New York, the star in the Justice Department's firmament, you'd be correct. It's not a stretch to recognize just how much interference the director of the FBI, either with or without aid from the Justice Department’s Attorney General, could run to gum up the works in this sprawling case. Just sayin'. And we know so many of the Trump acolytes, toadies and minions are happy to do a solid for the boss, for anything that may affect him, and especially as relates to money and/or influence. Again, just sayin'.

There is so much more Maddow presented just on this one guy, Kash Patel. In the interest of your time and your eyes, I'm stopping here. If you didn't see her show for 1/27/25, 9 pm, MSNBC, go find it on YouTube and watch it for yourself. And then go take a long walk or a hot shower.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/28/2299817/-Here-s-why-the-US-Senate-shouldn-t-give-Kash-Patel-the-time-of-day?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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