It’s being reported tonight by CNN’s Katilin Collins that President-elect Trump may nominate former Congressman and FBI special agent Mike Rogers as FBI director and nominate Kash Patel as deputy FBI director.
Here’s the report:
President-elect Donald Trump is considering shaking up the leadership at the FBI by firing the director and installing an experienced former agent and MAGA loyalist in the top two roles.
Trump has planned for months to fire Christopher Wray if he was elected, but in recent days has struggled to find a compromise of selecting a new director who can carry out his agenda while also being Senate confirmed. That concern only increased after it became clear his first pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, was facing an uphill confirmation battle before he withdrew his name.
With that context in mind, Trump has considered one potential option: naming Mike Rogers, a former FBI special agent and former Michigan congressman who just narrowly lost a Senate race, as the FBI director, while putting Kash Patel, a controversial MAGA loyalist, in as the deputy FBI director, according to several familiar with Trump’s thinking.
The plan could please both Senate Republicans concerned about Trump’s plans to disrupt the FBI — while also appeasing the MAGA orbit that has been frustrated about why more of their allies haven’t been placed into top jobs, sources told CNN.
As his advisers know best, nothing is final with Trump until it is posted in his own words on Truth Social.
Trump has interviewed multiple candidates down at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, several sources told CNN. Some names have fallen out of contention only to quickly be thrown back in, and Trump has fielded calls from old friends on the matter.
CNN has reached out to the Trump transition team and the FBI for comment.
I see this as a leak to find out how people really feel about it. In the past, Mike Rogers has been good on some things and less good on others. So we’ll see if this is who Trump actually has in mind and nominates. You just can’t trust these reports because, just like with the AG nomination, the reporting is often wrong. So take this with a grain of salt.