"Restoring trust" was the buzzword in the United States Congress on Thursday, January 30. Rarely has a phrase felt more out of place. It was used as a promise by two of Donald Trump's highly controversial nominees: Kash Patel to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. Both were being questioned by Senators in two committees. Each claimed they would repair their agencies' lost credibility, damaged by "politicization" and "weaponization." However, their deep vulnerabilities and highly partisan stances would have made them unthinkable candidates in pre-Trump times.

However, the Trump 2 administration has shifted traditional norms in terms of recruitment, the submission demanded of senior officials and Congress and the expanded conception of executive power. Loyalty trumps all other criteria. Patel and Gabbard were chosen first and foremost for this: their willingness to bend the FBI and the intelligence services to Trump's will.

The son of Indian immigrants, 44-year-old Patel began his career as a public defender in Florida. Arriving in Washington in 2013 to work at the Justice Department, he quickly came to the attention of Trump's entourage during the Republican's first term (2017-2021). He was chief of staff at the Pentagon and adviser on counter-terrorism to the National Security Council. After 2021, Patel became an outspoken defender of the former president as his lawyer, relaying lies about imaginary election fraud.

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